Never Fair
by TheBrightestNight
Summary: Marinette had considered, once upon a time, Adrien might like someone else. That didn't stop her heart from loving him in hopes that one day he'd love her. By some twist of fate, her dream might finally come true. But their secret identities threaten to turn that dream into a nightmare—where love is a tool as sharp and cutting as a knife, and the strings of fate become a prison.
1. One

**All right, so first ever fanfic for this fandom. I'm excited and nervous and scared.**

 **First off, I would like to thank and give credit to legend-of-sora on Tumblr for letting me take a piece of her artwork (** **post/138218350575/sketches-this-out-at-work-this-morning) and turn it into a fanfiction, and for providing the idea and main plot points.**

 **UPDATE: So, since I can't fit this into my summary, the cover for this story is also a piece done by legend-of-sora! Who was so nice as to draw this for the story! It's gorgeous and beautiful and I totally had to upload it as soon as possible. You can find the original post here (post/138919774930/i-couldnt-help-myself-awayofunderstandingit-is)**

 **It'll probably be a short story and not immediately start where in the storyline the art is drawn, because I'd really like to develop Marinette and Adrien's relationship naturally, as his love for Ladybug slowly shifts to Marinette. (Also, it has nothing to do with making the climax that much more painful. Nothing at all.)**

 **All right, with that said and done, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It's Just a Few Croissants and Cookies

It started after the tournament for that game, Ultimate Mega Strike 3. Well, okay, maybe that wasn't exactly when it started. It was more like, certain events during the time Adrien had gone over to Marinette's to practice playing the game together had gotten the ball rolling and after that it just, sort of…snowballed.

So there Marinette was, frozen at the front steps up to the school on a clear, sunny Monday morning, holding a box of fresh-baked goods for Adrien. Her heart was pounding so fast in her ribcage she thought it was going to burst right out of her chest. Her hands were shaking so bad, she was afraid she might drop the box and spill the croissants and cookies on the ground. (It wasn't like she hadn't spilled baked goods before, anyway.)

To say she was surprised when she went downstairs to say goodbye was an understatement.

For once, Marinette had managed to get up at a reasonable hour this morning. She'd had plenty of time to wake up and get dressed, prepare for school and get all her things in order. She checked the clock multiple times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating and was actually an hour late (also something that'd happened before).

She threw her purse over her shoulder, Tikki zipping inside with a quick smile to Marinette. Then she donned her backpack and headed downstairs to say a goodbye to her parents.

The first thing that gave them off was the fact that they were standing at the bottom of the staircase that led up to their front door (probably so they could monitor the bakery). Her dad had his arm around her mom's shoulders. Her mom was holding a small box (one of the sizes they sold in the shop) in her hands. Both of them were smiling up at her, almost beaming in fact.

Marinette slowed her walk as she came down, looking at them suspiciously.

"Uh…good morning," Marinette greeted them uncertainly, her feet hitting the ground floor.

"Good morning," they chimed together, completely in sync, making Marinette think they'd rehearsed this.

"Yeah, well, I'm off to school," she said quickly. "So I'll see you this afternoon—" She started to squeeze past them, but her mom quickly held out the box.

"Wait, before you go, will you make sure Adrien gets this?" she asked, causing her daughter to freeze and look at Sabine with startled eyes, her jaw completely slack.

"You want what?" she squeaked, her eyes flickering to the box like it was diseased.

Sabine held it out further, smiling and nodding encouragingly. "It's just a few croissants and cookies," she explained.

"We thought he'd might enjoy a little treat," Tom finished.

Marinette forced her body to move, though her brain was feeling a bit freeze-dried at the moment.

"Sure, of course…" She laughed nervously and reached for the box, almost dropping it in the process. She laughed again and smiled to reassure her parents that she could handle this.

"You'd better go before you're late again," Tom finally said.

"Right, of course." Marinette shot them another smile before turning and bolting to the front door of the bakery. "Love you!" She called back before bursting through the door and running over the school.

Only to remember the box in her hands. She came to a halt at the bottom of the steps, the box suddenly feeling a thousand times heavier. The smell of the baked goods wafted up toward her, reminding her of when she was little and would help prepare bread in the bakery. She still did that, of course, but when she was little she was just learning about what her parents did and the art that was baking bread—it was magical.

"Come on, Marinette," Tikki's voice coaxed softly, poking her head out from her Miraculous holder's purse. "You don't want to be late, do you?"

Marinette looked down at the box in her hands. "But…"

"Marinette," Tikki said with a little more force. "Worry about the box later."

Marinette bit her lip and looked down at the box before steeling her nerves, nodding, and running up the steps and to her classroom. Everyone was already there and the teacher was already speaking.

Marinette smiled sheepishly before quickly walking to her seat, which, unfortunately also meant she had to pass Adrien. She felt like she might trip and drop the box on her way up the steps, but nothing happened. She relaxed and let out a breath. Beside her, Alya giggled.

Marinette's blue eyes slid over to her best friend to glare. Alya tried to stifle her giggles, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Damn girl," Alya commented quietly when she'd gotten a sufficient hold of laughter. "Are you all right? You seem more flustered than usual and the day hasn't even started." She seemed to notice the box, then. "What's in the box?" She sang.

Marinette's eyes darted to the blond in front of her before going back to her friend, who didn't fail to miss this. Alya raised an eyebrow, her journalist's instincts kicking in.

"Oh, I see," Alya said. "Is it something for _Adrien_?" She sang his name a little too loud for Marinette's comfort.

"Shhhh!" Marinette waved her hands frantically, her eyes darting to Adrien to make sure he hadn't heard. She let out another breath when it looked like he was completely focused on what the teacher was writing on the board. "It's just some croissants and cookies, that's all."

"Can I have one?" Alya asked, reaching for the box. Marinette's arms came around the box so quick they were a blur as she leaned away from her best friend.

"No!" she exclaimed much too loud. The whole class froze, all eyes turning to look at her.

"Marinette," the teacher scolded, turning away from the board. "If you continue to interrupt the class, I'm going to send you to speak to the principal."

Marinette groaned and hung her head. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not."

The teacher turned back to the board. Marinette peeked up to look at Adrien as he turned to face front again. She let her gaze drop and groaned (much quieter) again, letting her had fall onto the table.

Alya reached over to pat her friend on the shoulder. Marinette turned her head and met her friend's eyes.

"Sorry," Alya mouthed.

Marinette smiled to assure her it was all good before lifting her head and pulling out her tablet and at least _trying_ to focus on the lesson. Of course, that didn't last very long. If she focused on the teacher, she was able to pay attention to the lesson. But when she looked down at her tablet to take a note, she saw the box and flew into a panic once again as she tried to think of way to give the box to Adrien. And so it went, back and forth, from the lesson to the box, throughout the whole class period.

Honestly, in theory, it shouldn't be so hard. But she 1) didn't want to embarrass herself doing it and 2) wanted to make sure she explained why she was suddenly giving him a box of food. It wasn't like she could just run up to him and shove it into his arms before running off again (though, if she was being honest, she had considered it). Marinette glanced over at her friend. Maybe Alya would be able to help her. She always managed to stay way more level-headed around Adrien.

Finally, the class ended, giving them a few minutes before their next one started. Giving Marinette a few minutes to either give Adrien the box or sit there and freak out about it. What she did instead was sit in her seat, staring at the box. Not even packing up, just staring at the box. That is until Adrien started leaving. Her eyes followed him out the door before straying back to the box.

"So," Alya said, making Marinette jump and yelp. "How are you planning on giving that to him?"

"I haven't figured out a way to give it to him that doesn't involve stuttering, tripping and dropping the box, and/or running," Marinette explained in a deadpan.

Alya laughed. "Oh, Marinette. Why don't you just wait until this afternoon and give them to him before he leaves for lunch?"

"I don't want to wait because I want some of them to be fresh when he eats them," Marinette lamented. "I can't wait until this afternoon."

"All right, then, let's go." Before Marinette could react, Alya stood, slung her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed the box of goodies, before heading out the door. Marinette let out a choked yelp of protest before shoving her things clumsily into her own backpack and following Alya, nearly dropping her tablet two times and tripping on the steps as she did.

By the time she made it out of the classroom, Adrien was just exiting the boys' locker room with Nino and Alya was heading straight toward them. How she'd managed to get down that flight of stairs so quickly, Marinette would never know. It wasn't like she had much time to think about it anyway because she had only a few seconds before Alya met Adrien and Nino.

She froze when she finally got downstairs. How was she going to approach them? What was she going to say? Alya never made things easy for Marinette when it came to Adrien, so she wouldn't be giving the box to him for her. And she didn't have a lot more time before their break was over and their next class began. She _really_ did want Adrien to get the food while it was still relatively fresh….

With a burst of courage, she ran over to there, the closer she got, the more her heart beat faster in her chest. Her mind was already jumbling up her words. She just barely managed to not turn and run in the other direction when Adrien looked at her and smiled.

"Oh, hey, Marinette," Alya said, holding out the box for her to take. Marinette doesn't take it just yet, afraid she'd immediately drop it. "We were just talking about your parents' bakery. Oh, and speaking of baked goods…" Alya pushed the box at Marinette and then let go, forcing Marinette to take it.

"Ah, well…" Marinette trailed off, trying to get her words in the proper order but having no such luck. Then the bell rang signaling the end of their break. Marinette went into full-blown panic mode, the only thing on her mind was giving Adrien the box. And for another first in her life, the words seemed to just fall into place, and in the right order.

She thrust the box out toward Adrien.

"My parents wanted me to give this to you." She said in a rushed voice. "I mean, I also want to give this to you. It's just a box of some croissants and cookies." Adrien took the box as Marinette continued, not pausing to breathe. "I guess you kind of missed out getting to try them when you over my house." She laughed sheepishly. "I should've been paying better attention. Sometimes my parents can be kind of embarrassing—" She broke off when Adrien rested a hand on her shoulder.

This whole time she'd been looking down, but she lifted her head when he'd touched her. Adrien was smiling, his green eyes sparkling like emeralds.

"Thanks, Marinette," he said, removing his hand. He and Nino then stepped past the two girls and started making their way to class.

Alya slapped her friend on the back, jolting her out of her haze—Adrien had touched her shoulder (again)!

"Come on, girl," the budding journalist laughed. "We're going to be late."

* * *

Marinette was starving by the time lunch came around. She was happy to finally get a break, relax, and go eat. Not only that, but she had finally just managed to calm herself down from giving that box to Adrien. Sitting behind him all day had its perks, but it also provided as a great distraction. Especially if she were to, say, monitor how many of the goodies Adrien had eaten throughout the first half of the day, or if he ate any of them.

Not to say that she did, or anything (2 croissants and 1 cookie so far). She wasn't surprised if he was saving the rest of or later. The bakery was one of the best in Paris, after all, and sometimes you had to stretch the deliciousness to last through the day, even if they weren't _as_ fresh as they were in the morning.

Having to keep half her life as a superheroine should've prepared her for the unexpected. She never knew when an akuma attack would pop up and she'd have to make a quick excuse to whoever she was with so she could go transform. It certainly kept her on her toes. But it didn't prepare her for the unexpected coming from a place of normalcy.

Marinette had just said goodbye to Alya and was waiting to cross the street when she heard her name being called. She recognized the voice instantly and froze, her back going ramrod straight. She did managed to turn and look over at the smiling blond-haired, green-eyed boy when he came to stand next to her, so that was a plus.

Her brain, however, had gone into overdrive.

 _What's going on? What does he want? Is something wrong? Does he have the box with him? Shouldn't he be heading home for lunch? Where's his car? Why does he want to talk to me? He'd already said thanks, right?_

As her thoughts usually did, they started spiraling to the worst case scenario: _What if something was wrong with the food. My parents rarely made mistakes when baking, and none of those mistakes have led to food poisoning, but what if someone_ else _had somehow contaminated them? Did I just hand the love of my life poisoned food?! Does he look okay? Sick? Queasy? Maybe it wasn't going to set in immediately. Even worse, if it set in at home, his father would no doubt find out. And he has the money to hire a detective, who would be able to track me down. My parents' bakery would be shut down and I'd be arrested for trying to kill Gabriel Agreste's son!_

"Marinette?" Adrien asked, snapping her from her terrorized thoughts. She blinked and focused in on him, giving him a nervous smile. "I just wanted to stop in real quick and give my thanks to your parents. You know for the food. Is that…is that all right?"

More scenarios threatened to fill her mind, but she did her best to shove them out and at least _try_ to act like a normal human being.

"Of course." Her voice was an octave higher so she turned to look at the light and was relieved to find that it was green. She wouldn't have to wait in awkward silence for it to change. Attempting to walk normally, despite her racing heart and shaking hands, she stepped out into the street. Her eyes flickered over to Adrien every once in a while. The walk was mercifully short.

Adrien held the door open for her and she was so busy stuttering her thanks and being red in the face she almost crashed into the doorframe, but managed to save herself just in time, which only caused her face to turn more red. Wanting to move past that as fast as possibly, she turned away from a slightly concerned-looking Adrien, and headed inside.

 _Get it together, girl!_ she scolded herself as she made her way up to the front counter, where her mom was standing.

"Hi, Mom," she greeted.

"Hi, sweetie," she said. Her eyes, then flickered to Adrien. "It's nice to see you again, Adrien. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for the treats," Adrien said. "They were delicious."

Sabine smiled. "It was no problem at all."

Marinette was just beginning to relax, but the next words that came out of her mom's mouth managed to catch her off guard: "I know you must be very busy with your schoolwork and modeling, but whenever you have the time, I just want you to know, you're welcome to join us for dinner."

Marinette froze again, eyes darting over to Adrien. He looked just as shocked as she felt at the invitation, but his shock quickly melted into a huge smile.

"Thank you, I'd like that." He looked over at Marinette, then, whose mouth had fallen open at his words. She quickly closed her mouth and smiled, freaking out on the inside. All her alarm bells were ringing, the voice inside her head was screaming, ABORT!ABORT!ABORT! The prospect of Adrien eating with them for a family dinner? It was all she could do to keep upright…for various reasons.

Just then, the bell jingled as the door to the bakery opened. All three of them turned to look. Taking up the whole doorway and then some, was Adrien's driver. His physique was scary enough, but with that stony face, he looked like he was ready to kill someone.

Adrien seemed unfazed as he turned to face Sabine and Marinette again.

"That's my cue," he said. "I've got a photoshoot. Thanks again, Mrs. Cheng. I'll see you later, Marinette."

"Stop by any time, Adrien!" Sabine called after him.

"Bye," Marinette squeaked, giving him a weak wave as he ran to the door. His driver stepped out of the way, holding the door open. He looked back into the bakery and gave a sharp nod before letting the door swing closed.

When the car finally drove off, Marinette turned back to her mom.

"Mom," she exclaimed breathlessly. "What was that?"

Sabine looked at her daughter with surprise. "I thought you liked that boy."

All the things Marinette had been planning to say screeched to a halt. "What—well—that—" She stopped herself and tried to compose her thoughts. "That's…not the point."

"What's not the point?" Tom asked as he entered the bakery. Marinette's parents switched who manned the bakery during her lunch breaks, so they both could have lunch with her during the week. Today was, obviously, Tom's turn to watch the store.

"Adrien," Sabine answered, stepping out from behind the counter.

"Oh." Tom nodded like that explained everything.

Marinette's eyes darted between them like she was watching a tennis match. They talked about her and Adrien? _When she wasn't there?_

"Did he like his treats?" Tom inquired as Marinette weakly held up a finger, her mouth open, trying to say something. Her parents ignored her.

"Very much," Sabine assured. "You just missed him. He stopped by to say thank you in person. I invited him to dinner sometime."

"That's wonderful!" Tom smiled before gesturing behind him. "Lunch is ready if you want to head up."

"Thank you, dear." Sabine leaned up as Tom leaned down to exchange a quick peck on the lips.

This broke Marinette out of her…whatever it was, and she smiled at her parents' relationship. She hoped she had a relationship like that one day (…with Adrien).

"Thanks, Papa," Marinette said, kissing his cheek as she passed and followed her mom up to their apartment.

 _Well, what's done is done, I suppose…_ she thought, her heart fluttering in her chest like a butterfly like it always did when she thought about Adrien.

Despite freaking out several times this morning—her blood pressure was probably a doctor's nightmare—it hadn't been too bad. She'd given Adrien a box of fresh baked goods (and he'd touched her shoulder!). She managed to not embarrass herself _too_ much in this process—she hoped. He'd enjoyed them so much he came over to thank her mom in person. _And_ now there was a chance he might come over for dinner!

Sure she turned into a speechless, incompetent fool whenever she faced him, but if the time he'd come over for that gaming competition was any indication, then maybe things wouldn't be _too_ bad. She had managed herself pretty well, who's to say she couldn't do it again? Of course, if she did manage to somewhat keep her cool, she also had to make sure her parents didn't say anything too indiscrete or embarrass her. That was a task in and of itself.

Whatever the case, it would seem, progress was being made in regards to her crush on Adrien.

* * *

 **I hope the writing was all right and everyone was in character. I don't write for characters like Marinette a lot, or at all really, so it was difficult for me to get into that kind of mindset. I hope I captured her character well.**

 **I know she's more than just her crush for Adrien, but this is going to be an Adrienette-centric fic, so her crush for him is a big factor. Rest assured, as time goes on and she starts spending more time with him, she will calm down into the Marinette we know and love currently. But for right now she still gets so nervous she can barely function.**

 **Lastly, gotta give credit to Rick Riordan for helping me with the title of the story. I took it from a quote in the House of Hades, said by Cupid: "I am the god of love. I am never fair."**

 **Again, I hope you enjoyed. I'd like to thank legend-of-sora on Tumblr, once more—I hope you like it so far!**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	2. Two

With Age Comes Wisdom

Ladybug made it back, near the school just in time before her transformation ran out (of course, out of sight). Marinette quickly held out her hands and caught her kwami as she flew out of Marinette's Miraculous before putting Tikki back in her purse.

"I can't believe I missed half a day of school again," Marinette groaned as she walked up the steps and into the courtyard, looking around to make sure no one was there. She'd asked to go to the bathroom, after all. She couldn't have someone catching her coming into the courtyard from anywhere else but the bathroom. The door to their classroom was just swinging shut, but all was quiet.

Tikki popped out of her purse. "You're doing your best, Marinette. That's all that matters."

Marinette smiled at her kwami as she got to the stairs.

The bell rang just as Marinette pushed the door open. The teacher was reminding everyone of their homework as they packed up. Not wanting to be trampled, Marinette quickly made her way to her desk to grab her things before all her classmates rushed the door.

"There you are, girl!" Alya exclaimed. "You missed it—"

"I know, I know," Marinette interrupted, putting her tablet into her backpack. "I, uh…just wasn't feeling very well. Do you think you could give me your notes?"

Alya laughed. "Don't I always come through for you? But that's not what I was going to say before." Alya slid a piece of paper Marinette's way. "We've got a history project. Pairs. And guess who you got paired with?"

"Ugh, don't tell me it was…Chloé," Marinette grumbled as she scanned the criteria for the project.

"Nope, even better," Alya sang. "Adrien!"

Marinette froze, her eyes going wide. She lifted her gaze from the paper to her grinning friend, not sure if she heard right.

"Adrien?" she asked just barely over a whisper.

Alya nodded excitedly. "You'd better work on your speaking skills, because you'll be spending quite a bit of time together these next few weeks." With that, Alya started to leave.

Scrambling, Marinette threw the paper into her bag before following her friend. She gripped Alya's arm as her brain started to work its way into a panic.

"Wait, you can't just leave me like this! I can barely handle giving him a box of cookies! How will I handle being with him alone? Working on a project together!" Marinette lamented. Then something occurred to her. "Wait, does he know? Did he already leave for home?"

Alya shrugged. "Don't know about that one. He came back just a moment before you did. Nino probably already took care of it—"

Marinette gasped as she saw the blond boy in question coming toward them. "Gah!" She jumped behind Alya, ducking her head. "I'm not here." She whispered, closing her eyes and silently praying as Adrien's footsteps drew closer.

There was a small moment of silence before Adrien asked uncertainly, "…Marinette?"

Marinette opened her eyes and realized that Alya was no longer standing in front of her. She was standing off to her right, with a hand on her hip, eyebrow raised, smirking. Marinette then looked at Adrien, who was leaning toward her with a slightly concerned look on his face.

The budding fashion designer quickly straightened up with a laugh.

"I was just…catching the wind!" She exclaimed, her brain, as usual, screwing up her words. "I-I mean, breathing the wind—uh, no. Breathing—er, catching my breath." Her hand came up to rub the back of her head as she grinned and giggle, trying to hide her embarrassment.

There was another moment of silence, but this one was more painful than the last.

"So, Adrien," Alya jumped in, saving the day. "Did you need something?" She slapped Marinette's hand down without even looking, which had still been rubbing her head. "You came over here for a reason."

"Yeah, right," Adrien said, blinking away his confusion and looking over at Alya. "Nino told me that Marinette and I were partners for our history project. Am I correct to assume you told Marinette?"

"What are best friends for?" Alya asked with a shrug and a smirk. "Why don't I just let you two talk about meeting times. I should go talk to my partner, anyway."

That sufficiently snapped Marinette from her so-embarrassed-she's-paralyzed state, the girl reaching out toward her friend as she started away.

"Wait, Alya!" Marinette exclaimed. Her friend blatantly ignored her, only turning and winking before continuing on her merry way.

"I'll see you guys later!" Alya called as she exited the courtyard.

Marinette watched her go, heart beating a mile a minute. All the words in her vocabulary were swirling around in her brain, like they'd been caught in a tornado. She couldn't grasp the right words or put them in the right order.

Finally, she straightened up and smiled at Adrien.

"Listen, I've got to get to a photoshoot," Adrien said, grabbing Marinette's hand (she bit her tongue on a startled scream) and slipping a torn piece of paper into her palm with his other hand. "So, give me a call tonight and we can work something out. See you later!" He smiled before turning and running out of the courtyard, to his car waiting by the curb. His giant chauffeur was waiting with the door to the backseat open, that stony expression ever-present.

"Bye," Marinette finally managed weakly as she watched the car speed off. The hand that Adrien had taken was blazing, like he'd lift a fire when he'd touched her.

* * *

Marinette sat, huddle in her chair, knees pulled up to her chest, and stared at her phone. It had been exactly 3 hours, 42 minutes, and 13 seconds since Adrien had handed her his phone number and told her to call him.

"You're going to have to call him sometime," Tikki said, who was sitting by the phone. "You guys are partners."

"I know," Marinette groaned. "But he said 'tonight.' What does that mean? Evening? Late evening? Does it need to be dark out? Don't forget patrols, I have to go on patrols, so it can't be too late. What if he doesn't pick up? I don't want another disaster like last time!" Marinette threw herself onto the table with a dramatic sob.

Tikki sighed and shook her head. "Oh, Marinette."

"I could always wait until tomorrow to talk to him," Marinette said hopefully.

"You could, but he _did_ say to give him a call. I think he expects you to call him tonight. You shouldn't leave him hanging."

Marinette's eyes slid over to her kwami as a pout developed on her features. "You're too smart."

"With age comes wisdom," Tikki replied with a smile. Marinette's pout melted into a smile as well. Somehow, Tikki always seemed to be right. She sat up and took her phone into her hands before grabbing the piece of paper containing Adrien's number.

Both her hands were shaking as she tried to plug in the number, only they were shaking so badly, she kept hitting the wrong numbers.

"Ugh, I can't do it!" Marinette threw her phone and the slip of paper back on her desk and leaned back in her chair, letting her head fall over the back of it. A silent minute passed before Tikki was suddenly holding Marinette's phone in front of her face. And it was dialing.

Marinette leaped from her chair with a yelp, snatching the phone from the little red and black kwami. She fumbled with it for a few seconds trying to decide if she should hang up and let Adrien think some random person dialed the wrong number, or let it ring through and hope he didn't pick up. Though, the last time he didn't pick up, she'd left a message on his phone calling him "hot stuff." Not only had that happened, but she then stole it to erase the message.

She didn't think she would get so lucky this time if she messed up again.

Of course, if she hung up now, and he'd been expecting a call from her, would he be able to put two and two together? Would he call a phone number he didn't know back on the off chance it was Marinette? What then? If she didn't pick up, he'd know it was her because of her voicemail. If she did, she'd then have to explain why she'd stopped calling him suddenly, which would probably result in a lot of jumbled sentences and confused words.

Anyway Marinette looked at it, there wasn't a point in which she could _not_ majorly screw up.

Too late, she realized she'd been thinking too long.

Adrien's voice came through the phone, loud and clear, "Hello?"

Marinette froze and stared down in horror at the screen. She couldn't hang up now. What if she figured out it was her and thought she was a creep calling, saying nothing for a few seconds, and then hanging up?

"…hello?" Adrien asked again, a little more uncertain this time.

Tikki encouraged her Miraculous holder silently. Marinette quickly brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Adrien," she said, maybe a little bit _too_ loud. "It's me, Marinette. You know, your classmate"—as soon as she started that sentence she was hitting her forehead with her palm, but she couldn't stop the words from flowing out—"at Collège Françoise Dupont. I sit behind you. My best friend is Alya—" Marinette slapped her free hand over her mouth to get her stop talking. A little voice in the back of her head was screaming at her to hang up, but she gripped her phone and kept it at her ear.

"Hey, thanks for calling," Adrien replied, mercifully ignoring her blunder. "I've got some time after school tomorrow we could hang out and brainstorm ideas for the project."

"Sounds great," she agreed, her voice still slightly higher pitched than she wanted it to be, or than it normally was. "Uh…did you have a specific meeting place in mind?"

"I was thinking possibly your place again." Adrien paused. "Or, I mean, at my place if your place doesn't work."

Was it Marinette's nerves, or was that apprehension she heard in his voice?

Her eyes flickered to all the pictures and posters of Adrien on her wall. She really didn't want to have to remove them. Or, what was more likely to happen, was she would hang up, go out on patrol, come back exhausted and forget to take them down. Then, she'd wake up late, not have time to take them down then, and rush to the school. She'll probably have forgotten about them by the time lunch came around. And then, Adrien would approach her after classes ended, remind her he was coming over, and then she'd have to make an excuse to run upstairs before him and scramble to take them down.

She'd really rather not break another picture frame.

He didn't sound comfortable letting her come over to his house, so maybe…. Well, they were brainstorming, and whenever she needed to brainstorm she went to her Secret Garden of Inspiration.

"How about the Trocadéro?" she suggested.

"Yeah, I'd like that!" Adrien said, sounding much happier (almost relieved, even), which made Marinette smile. "Oh, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Marinette sagged back into her chair, making sure she'd hung up before letting her arms dangle at her side.

"You did it, Marinette," Tikki praised, floating in front of the girl.

Marinette mock glared at her kwami. "Next time give me a warning!" Tikki merely giggled and shrugged. Marinette tried not to smile, but only managed to suppress half of it. She set her phone down on the table, glancing at the time, only to shoot up from her chair again. "Oh no! I'm late for patrols! Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo, using it to help her catapult out of the skylight above the bed.

"I'm never going to hear the end it," she muttered as she landed on the roof of the bakery/home. She threw her yo-yo again, latching onto an adjacent building before flying through the air like Spiderman, trying to get to her and Chat Noir's meeting spot before she was majorly late. Of course, he'd probably make some kind of joke about her being fashionably late. And he would most definitely manage to slip some kind of pun into the sentence, too.

Already groaning, she raced across the roofs of Paris, the Eiffel Tower glowing in the distance.

* * *

Adrien leaned back, resting elbows on the next step up.

He and Marinette were currently sitting on some steps at the Trocadéro. The day was warm, sunny, with a beautiful blue sky.

"So, have you thought any about the project?" Adrien asked, looking from the sky over to Marinette.

She was slumped forward, hands clasped, between her legs. Her heart was thumping so loud in her chest, she thought for sure Adrien would be able to hear it.

"Uh…yeah," Marinette managed in a small voice. She'd been trying to keep the words in her sentences to a minimum. That way, she had less chance of jumbling up her words and saying the wrong thing and/or embarrassing herself. She tentatively turned toward him, so she could look at him easier.

"I was thinking we could do something like Parisian fashion throughout the years," She started in a quiet voice carefully choosing her words carefully and speaking slowly. Her head was somewhat bowed, eyes averted, afraid of seeing his reaction to her proposal, only occasionally glancing up at him. "Starting fifty years back, to now. If we don't have enough information to present, we could always do a hundred years back. I could put together the outfits and we could both model them, take some pictures, then do research about their history in Paris and present that alongside the photos."

She waited, eyes downcast, for his reaction, then something occurred to her. Just as Adrien had straightened up and was just opening his mouth to respond, her head snapped up, eyes wide.

"Unless, of course, you don't want to do that! I know you model when you're not at school. So it would be understandable if you didn't want to do it for a school project. It wasn't a serious suggestion, just something I came up with just now, in fact. This is a partner thing after all, and if you don't agree we can always do something else—"

Adrien laid a hand on her shoulder, making her stop and look at him with wide, almost panicked eyes.

His heart skipped a beat before doing an odd tap-dance in his chest, as he gazed into Marinette's eyes. The way the light hit them, at just the right angle, they shined like sapphires. Gorgeous, deep blue—he was drowning in them.

For a moment, he didn't understand. The only other time his heart ever did something like that, his brain stopped working like that, was when he looked his Lady. But this was definitely Marinette, not Ladybug. So what was going on?

Realizing he didn't have the time to question this now, he quickly pulled himself back to the present, trying not to hastily remove his hand from Marinette's shoulder, and instead do it with the calm, collectedness his father had taught him to master.

Adrien smiled, which made Marinette's heart do its own tap-dance.

"I think that's a great idea," he assured her. "I don't mind modeling for this. Especially if you're going to join me. I rarely get to do photoshoots with someone else."

A smile slowly spread across Marinette's face and Adrien was suddenly reminded of watching the sunset on the Paris horizon with Ladybug as they sat on the Eiffel Tower together. Adrien blinked rapidly and tried to pull himself back to now again. This was starting to become strange. He needed to get home immediately, think about what was going on, and have a serious discussion with himself (with Plagg making unwanted comments in the background as he ate his disgusting Camembert) before his mask of calm, cool, and collected fell away.

Marinette felt about ready to explode from happiness. He'd liked her idea! Not only that, but she was able to tie in fashion into it. Which would most definitely help, because she wasn't the best when it came to history. She always had to make it interesting somehow so she could pass her tests.

Adrien smiled back and Marinette felt her soul leave her body, floating up to Cloud 9. She'd managed to express her idea without so much as a slip-up, and now, if she wasn't mistaken, she felt they were having a moment. She wasn't sure what kind of moment, but she almost felt…relaxed, for _once_ , with Adrien.

The Gorilla cleared his throat just then, making Marinette jump and veer back, flailing her arms. She was then reminded that he'd been standing there the whole time, on the top step, watching over Adrien like a bodyguard does.

She was also reminded of the mortifying trip over to the Trocadéro.

When she'd first suggested it, she hadn't even been thinking about transportation. She was so used to taking a bus or the subway, it never occurred to her that Adrien's bodyguard would be able to drive them there until they were exiting the courtyard.

There had been a lot of "no thank yous." Adrien had insisted, going so far as to step toward her and take her hand. And the rest—how did the saying go?—was history. Well, more like awkward silence and even more awkward conversations that Adrien tried to start, but ended up dying out when Marinette couldn't get herself to speak more than two or three words at a time. All the while staring down at her feet, completely red-faced. She was surprised Adrien hadn't been put off by that alone.

The young model, who was used to this by now, simply looked up at his bodyguard/chauffeur before looking back at Marinette, who quickly composed herself and straightened up.

"I've got fencing practice," Adrien told her, sounding…disappointed? He stood, slinging his bag's strap over his shoulder. Marinette stood as well as he continued, "I'll call you later and we can start working out the details and meeting times."

"O-okay, sounds grood—" Marinette put a hand to her forehead. "I mean, it sounds great! And good! Because I was going to say great, but switched to good in the middle of saying great." She could feel the blush making its way up her neck and into her face, but she tried not to avert her gaze.

Adrien laughed, making Marinette's heart flutter. It was the most beautiful sound…and he looked so happy. Her breath caught when a cold icicle shot through her chest as this thought. Had he not seemed happy before?

Marinette went over all the times she'd interacted with Adrien, cold realization dawning on her, like when the sun rises on a grey, overcast day during fall in Paris. Adrien would smile and laugh with her and Alya and Nino, and all their other classmates, but they weren't…genuine. Maybe they were now and again, but most of the time…. Had they been forced, at the very least an… _act_? How could she have missed that? After paying attention to him so much, how could she had not seen? Her subconscious had certainly been aware, and it was only just now, seeing Adrien _really_ smile, did it occur to her.

Adrien's voice broke Marinette from her dazed, dizzying thoughts: "I'll see you later, Marinette." He winked before turning and walking with The Gorilla to his car.

* * *

 **Yay, second chapter!**

 **Also, I've got some news: tomorrow marks the beginning of my second semester as Junior in college. So, obviously, I will be pretty busy. Which will most likely mean sporadic, scattered updates. I hope you'll be patient with me.**

 **I'm so happy with the wonderful reception I received here, on AO3, and on Tumblr. I am** _ **so**_ **glad you're all enjoying it! So, thank you! All of you! So,** _ **so**_ **very much!**

 **As always, I'd like to thank the lovely legend-of-sora on Tumblr for letting me expand on her amazing comic (post/138218350575/sketches-this-out-at-work-this-morning).**

 **And I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	3. Three

**All right, third chapter! Thankfully the first week isn't too stressful. Also, I just** _ **really**_ **wanted to get this to you.**

 **Once again, I must thank legend-of-sora for letting me write about and expand on her short comic. And making the lovely cover art!**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Make Small Talk

Marinette was up most of that night after patrols, tossing and turning and thinking. Thinking about all the times she'd interacted with Adrien, how she'd been too love-struck to see past her crushing emotions, her racing thoughts, her nerves always getting the best of her. Thinking about what she actually knew about him. Thinking about what happened today.

He _looked_ happy enough at school, with friends. He seemed to really like having a group of friends, interacting with people. From what she remembered, the only time he looked visibly upset was the Parents' Day at school. His father hadn't been there. Probably too busy.

Oh, but there was also on his birthday, Marinette realized, when he was talking to Nino. He sounded so down when he'd told Nino he had a photoshoot to get to during lunch.

Marinette rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes, staring up at the night sky through her skylight. What had they been talking about before? Frowning, she realized that she couldn't recall because she'd been trying so hard to give him her present that was all her mind had been focusing on.

Letting out a half-sigh and half-groan, she pulled her pillow from under her head and threw it over her face. What else had she possibly missed?

 _Of course!_

Marinette bolted up in her bed, the pillow following off her face and into her lap.

The day when Adrien had come over to her place. The moment when he'd talked about not contributing to the team at all and she'd given him her lucky bracelet. He'd looked the saddest she'd ever seen him. Disappointed with himself. At the time, she'd thought it was ridiculous.

Eyebrows furrowing, frowning again, Marinette laid back down.

Someone like him? Discontent? His father was a super-rich, super-famous fashion designer. He was a handsome, popular model. His face was everywhere in Paris. He had lots of girls' attention.

Adrien always _seemed_ so unaffected and…mature about things. He was also intelligent. Marinette knew that he was good at Physics. When he was older, he _didn't_ have to be a model. Not only did his father's prestige provide him opportunities, but so did his intellect.

Marinette knew Adrien's schedule down to every last minute. Because he sat in front of her, it was hard _not_ to pay attention to him. She knew what his hand-writing looked like, she knew how he held a pencil. She knew how he signed his name.

But did she know anything about _him_? His family? Other than the obvious. Did he ever even really talk about his family other than his father? What about his likes and dislikes? His favorite food? Color? Movie? Song? What music did he listen to? What was his _least_ favorite subject? What did he watch when he had downtime? Did he even _have_ downtime?

Marinette sat up again and glared down at her messed up sheets, the pillow still in her lap.

Maybe she shouldn't have brushed off that moment so easily. He was still a person, he probably had insecurities, despite not showing them.

Tikki, not having been oblivious to Marinette's tossing and turning, floated up to Marinette and settled down on her pillow.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the kwami asked softly, looking up at Marinette.

Marinette sighed and sagged. She shifted so she could lean back against the wall and the rest of her pile of pillows, turning on the soft lights she'd strung up in her loft. Tikki adjusted where she was sitting on the pillow accordingly.

"I'm just…thinking about Adrien," Marinette admitted, knowing she didn't have to hide anything from Tikki.

Tikki giggled. "You're _always_ thinking about him, Marinette. What's changed?"

Marinette pouted at Tikki's comment, but explained what'd been going through her mind ever since this afternoon, after Adrien had left to go to his fencing practice.

"Don't you see, Marinette?" Tikki exclaimed. "This is good. I think it's safe to say that you didn't see Adrien on the level that you and your other friends and classmates are on. But now you're starting to see him as, well, more human, as a person. If you want to be in a relationship with him, you're going to want to know him as a person, right?"

As usual, Tikki had a point. A good one. Marinette almost felt bad she _hadn't_ seen him as a just a regular person before now.

Marinette considered her kwami's words. "I feel like I should talk to him about it, though."

"What's the matter with talking with him about it?"

"I don't think we know each other well enough."

"You still have this project. You can get to know him while you guys work. Make small talk."

"If you'll recall, I'm terrible at small talk," Marinette groaned, putting her head in her hands.

Tikki zipped up to Marinette and pulled at one of her fingers. "You'll get it, Marinette. Things'll get easier the more time you spend with him. Just take it slowly."

Marinette lowered her hands and looked back at Tikki. Aside from her mom, dad, and Alya, Tikki was one of her closest confidants. Especially when it became hard to balance her normal life with her life as Ladybug. She could only talk to Tikki about that part.

She managed a smile. "Thanks, Tikki."

Tikki smiled and giggled. "You should sleep now. You've still got school tomorrow."

* * *

They were going to do the research for their project today and had already determined 50 years wasn't going to be enough for their presentation so they decided they'd needed to go back 100 years. Which sounded like a lot, but Adrien suggested they jump 10 years at a time, which lessoned their load to 11 different, main fashion trends throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

They were going to meet in the library after school that day, try to get all the research done in one go. At the very least, get half of it done that day and the other half the next.

Adrien started with books in 1915 and Marinette started in 2005, going through the magazines they kept at their library first, before going to the books since where she was looking wasn't terribly long ago. (Looking for the fashion trends for 2015 was a nonissue. She'd brought the fashion magazines from home.) Marinette would be working back and Adrien forward until they got to the middle.

Every time they acquired a few books, they returned to their table and set them in stacks, trying to keep them organized before going back to the bookshelves. Eventually, they came to the same bookshelf, both jumping slightly not expecting to see each other as they turned the corner. After a small awkward moment where Marinette smiled widely and waved, Adrien smiling back, they both turned to the shelf, skimming the spines.

At first, they were very aware of each other, just barely focusing on the books' titles, but finally managed to redirect their attention back to the project. Slowly, they worked their way toward the middle of the bookshelf, until they were standing mere centimeters from each other. Without even realizing it, they started reaching for the same book.

Their fingers collided and they both jumped back, stuttering apologies, looking everywhere but at each other, with nervous laughter thrown into the mix.

Despite being partners and working on the same project, they tried to offer each other the book in broken sentences and stuttered words. By the time they figured out who was going to take the book back to their table, both of their faces were red and they had both resigned themselves to not speaking any more than necessary.

When they had finally gathered all the materials needed, they sat down at a table they'd taken over, instead of actually focusing on doing research, they were lost in thought.

Adrien was still bewildered and worried about his confused emotions. He wasn't quite sure how to handle his changing feelings. He glanced over at Marinette who was staring down at one of the books they'd collected, but it looked like she wasn't absorbing any of the information.

It seemed, the more time he spent with Marinette, the more the feelings he had whenever he was around Ladybug appeared, only directed toward Marinette. His heart did acrobatics in his chest. As Adrien with Marinette, he had to fight the urge to not make cat puns and joke around (which was something he did when he was nervous). Of course, he made them anyway as Chat Noir, but he felt the need to make even more to hide his nervousness.

He found himself staring at her when she was focusing on something or working really hard. He started noticing all these little details about her that he thought was cute or endearing, like how when she was concentrating on something, she'd stick her tongue out, or when she was really excited, she danced on the balls of her feet.

Of course, it was all Marinette could do to keep her brain functioning at its usual capacity. At the very least, form coherent sentences without switching the words around. Her heart hadn't slowed down all day, which probably wasn't good for her health. It was just, every single time she managed to calm down, she'd look at Adrien and remember they were partners for this project, remember they were meeting after school to work on it together, and her heart would thump painfully in her chest before picking up speed again.

It wasn't only that, either. She couldn't stop thinking about what she realized about Adrien. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she wanted to get to know the boy behind the calm, at times sophisticated, mask he wore at school. She wanted to be able to talk to him about his family, about his goals in life, his dreams, the most random things he could think of.

Unfortunately for her, her brain still wasn't quite cooperating with what she wanted to do.

Marinette took a deep breath, letting it out in a deep sigh. She really needed to concentrate on the project. They had plenty of time, but she wanted to make sure they didn't run out of time. They still had to put together the wardrobe, then organize the photoshoot, then put the presentation together and practice. There was quite a bit of work to be done.

Trying to ignore the fact that Adrien was sitting a mere few inches away from her, she pulled out her sketchbook (deciding to design the outfits and then write down the facts).

Adrien looked over at the girl next to him when she sighed, wondering what she could be thinking about. And as she started to get to work, he quickly looked back at his own book. She had the right idea. Not just that, but if he continued to watch her work, he might not be able to take his eyes off her.

Without really thinking, Adrien groaned and dropped his head onto his book. It wasn't until he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder—sending electric zings from his shoulder, throughout his body, and straight into his heart, causing it to skip a few beats—did he remember Marinette was there (notwithstanding the fact that he had _just_ taken his eyes off her).

"Is everything okay?" Marinette asked softly.

Adrien shifted his head as Marinette removed her hand, and looked over at her, his breath catching. She looked so concerned. About him? Startled, he was suddenly taken back to the time he'd gotten caught in the freezer at Le Grand Paris (as Chat Noir _and_ Adrien because he'd lost his ring). How he'd collapsed as soon as Ladybug had gotten the door open. When he opened his eyes again, those beautiful blue eyes were the first thing he saw, swirling with concern and worry. For _him_.

Adrien blinked and straightened up. _That was weird,_ he thought before smiling and trying to laugh off what'd just happened.

"It's nothing," he assured. "I was just thinking."

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed and she chewed on the inside of her lip before asking in an even softer voice, "About what?"

For the first time in a long time, Adrien froze. He hadn't been expecting her to ask that. Not a lot of people asked him specifics on things. He wasn't sure if it was because of the demeanor he presented around his friends, or they were nervous about getting into the _deep_ stuff, but whenever he brushed them off with a laugh, they backed off. On one hand he was relieved. Talking about his personal life was never fun because it wasn't happy. They all knew his father was busy and absent, but they didn't know his mom had gone missing. They didn't know that his father had become the way he was now _because_ his mom had disappeared.

They didn't know just how unhappy he was. They didn't know that, even though he was disappointed with his father, he didn't want his father to be disappointed with him. And how frustrated that made him.

On the other hand, he was let down that they didn't push.

He had this constant battle of wanting people to know who he _really_ was—beyond being a model, beyond standing in his father's shadow—and not wanting to ruin the image he'd worked so hard to keep and perfect. He didn't want anyone to get through the walls he'd so carefully crafted and built ever since his mom disappeared, yet he found himself wishing someone would.

But, at this point, that meant he'd have to fall apart.

Adrien's eyes darted around, trying to think of what to say. There was no way he was going to tell Marinette he was thinking about _her_ until he figured out what that meant.

Then he saw the beginning of a sketch in her sketchbook and an idea formed.

"Oh, I was just looking at all the books we collected." He forced out a laugh. "It looks like a lot of work. I guess it's good we started early. Uh, but I was thinking, I could do the writing and you could put together the outfits." His eyes purposefully flickered down to her sketchbook.

Marinette paused and Adrien was worried that he'd taken too long between her question and his answer, but finally, a small smile spread across her face.

She nodded. "Okay, that's…that's a good idea."

Adrien relaxed as they both turned back to their respective books.

Marinette, however, didn't miss the pause. Didn't miss the way he'd been searching for an answer. Now that she was focusing on him without the haze of her crush, she was slowly becoming more aware of when he was being himself and when his walls went up. Like just a moment ago.

Still, he clearly didn't want to talk about it. But it was step. She wasn't sure in which direction, though. She'd just have to wait and see. Maybe if he saw she was willing to talk to him, he'd open up. Maybe.

They quietly worked through the afternoon, having planned on staying until the library closed and they couldn't stay there any longer. Work went surprisingly fast, and soon they'd gotten back to that last book. Once again, reaching for the book at the same time, hands colliding, causing sparks to fly between both of them.

"Ladies first," Adrien offered, smiling nervously.

Marinette checked the time on her phone. "I don't think we'll have time. Uh…why don't we share?"

"…okay, sure."

There was another moment of awkward broken sentences and stuttered words as they tried to work out how they'd share this last book before finally scooting their chairs closer together. Marinette leaned forward, tentatively reached over to open the book and skimmed the table of contents, looking for the right chapter.

"Here!" she exclaimed, flipping to the chapter and scanning through the pages, so caught up that they were almost done with the most boring part that she didn't even notice Adrien lean closer to the book as well, which also meant leaning more toward Marinette.

When she finally found something that she could work with, she started to say, "All right, so I'll just—" only to look up and realize that she and Adrien were so close their breaths mingled. She didn't think she'd ever seen eyes so green before. This close up, they reminded her of sitting on one of the benches at the park next to her home and looking up at the trees when the wind blew through their leaves—that beautiful summer green dappled with sunlight shining through the empty spaces.

She made a small noise in the back of her throat, her eyes widening. This only caused a lump to form in Adrien's throat, his heart thumping oddly in his chest.

 _God, those blue eyes…_

"Well, I should really—" Marinette finally managed, jerking away just as Adrien said, "Yeah, I need to, um—" also pulling away and searching for his pencil.

Marinette picked up her own pencil, but her hands were shaking so hard she had to curl both her hands into fists, forcing herself to take deep breaths without making it look like that's what she was doing. Luckily for her, Adrien was doing the exact same thing, so he wasn't even paying attention.

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure I can't help you with anything?" Adrien asked for the third time that afternoon. He and Marinette were hanging out in her room, currently. Marinette was making parts of the outfits they couldn't find already made or hadn't looked like how they'd wanted. Adrien added, "I'm starting to feel super useless right now."

Marinette looked up at him, about to rebuff his statement, but then remembered what he'd said when he'd come over to her place for that game tournament—how crestfallen he'd looked.

"Actually, there's some things I could teach you," she told him. "Simple stuff. But it'll help speed things along."

Adrien smiled, his whole face lighting up, melting Marinette's heart. He grabbed the table and rolled his chair closer to her. She turned back to her work and started to explain what he needed to do, glancing up occasionally and smiling because of how intently he was focused on her words and what she was showing him.

He'd never showed interest in designing clothes professionally, despite who his father was, but you couldn't tell in that moment. Marinette was glad that she could help him feel needed. And, it wasn't like she was giving him busywork, either. Admittedly, it was hard to let someone else do the work, because she was always afraid they'd mess it up. But, she knew it was good to accept help from people now and then. Besides, from what she'd seen, Adrien was very capable and a fast learner.

By the time they were finally finishing up the last piece of the last outfit, it was around dinnertime.

Just as Marinette was putting the piece into the bag with the other pieces of that outfit (she had 10 other bags, sitting in a corner of her room, with the other outfits) her door opened up to reveal her mom and dad. Immediately, she was on high alert. The last time they'd appeared together to her like that was the day they'd asked her to deliver that box of treats. It hadn't ended terribly, but it sure had caused her a bunch of stress.

Not only that, but during that time her and Adrien had been practicing for the game, her parents had started spying on them once. Her papa coming up twice. Her mom coming up with the quiche while her papa looked on like he'd been watching some romcom. She loved them, but they could so…exasperating sometimes!

"Adrien," Sabine started. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Even though she'd invited him before, he looked at her surprised, having not expected that question. It wasn't just that, but like the first time, the prospect of having a family dinner managed to shock him. How long had it been since he'd sat down with his family and had dinner? A proper dinner, where they talked about their day and told funny stories, complained about their coworkers or insufferable people they'd had to deal with that day?

"Well, is it all right with you, Marinette?" Adrien asked, looking over at the girl, who'd froze when she'd heard her mom ask the dreaded question.

She straightened up, tried for a smile and ended up grinning ridiculously. "Of course!" she exclaimed, perhaps a little too loud, followed by a nervous laugh.

"Let me just double check with Nathalie." Adrien pulled out his phone and started to dial her number.

"We'll give you some privacy," Marinette said through her painful smile, going over to her door and waving her hands so her parents would move. She threw one last smile in Adrien's direction before closing the door and descending the stairs.

"Mom, Papa!" she hissed, so Adrien wouldn't hear.

"I thought you were over your nerves," Sabine commented, going to the kitchen, having already prepared dinner. All that was left was serving it. Tom started to set the small counter. It would be a tight fit if Adrien stayed, but they'd make it work.

"Well, yeah…I guess, but…but—but dinner is a totally different thing!" Marinette's voice raised before she remembered Adrien was right upstairs. She slapped her hands over her mouth and went over to the side the counter that was technically in the family room. "Just don't embarrass me, okay?" she whispered, leaning over the counter, as she heard the door to her bedroom open up and footsteps make their way down the stairs.

"She said it was fine," Adrien announced as he joined the Dupain-Chengs in the kitchen.

"That's great!" Tom exclaimed with a smile. "Take a seat, everything's just about ready."

"Thank you, Mr. Dupain," Adrien said and took a seat next to Marinette as Tom finished setting the table—smiling and winking at Marinette because of the seating arrangement, causing his daughter to go completely red—and Sabine started setting the food on the table and serving them. Tom sat at the end of the table, Sabine opposite of Adrien and Marinette.

Mercifully, the dinner went well. It was almost as if Adrien had been a part of their family for years. It was easy, natural. Sabine and Tom asked the two about how their project was coming along, about their classes.

Marinette let Adrien do most of the talking. He was very enthusiastic, answering in earnest and she constantly found herself staring, not even really focusing on the meal. It wasn't until Sabine would gently nudge her daughter's leg that she would remember to occasionally take bites of her food.

Things had seemed to be going pretty smoothly, that was, until…

"Oh, I've been meaning to say that this is delicious," Adrien told Sabine and Tom, referring to the meal. "I really appreciate that you let me join you. It actually reminds me a lot of what my mom used to make."

Sabine's eyebrows furrowed and she set down her utensils. "Used it?" she asked softly, carefully.

Adrien jolted, like someone had just shocked him, like he hadn't meant to say something like that. Beside him, Marinette stiffened, only glancing at the blond through her peripherals.

He'd been so careful to keep the conversation away from his home life, only to have it just slip from his mouth so easily. Looking between all three of them, Adrien swallowed hard and gripped his own utensils.

"Oh." He let out a long breath. "Uh—well…my mom—"

"It's okay, you don't have to—" Tom started.

"She disappeared." Adrien finally managed in a quiet voice, looking down at his plate. "Father hasn't been the same since." His eyebrows furrowed and he gritted his teeth as his eyes pooled with tears.

Marinette tried to think of something to say, something to do—maybe she could put a hand on his shoulder? But nothing seem sufficient enough. She had wanted to know more about him, but not like this.

Sabine moved first, reaching over to rest a gentle hand on Adrien's, which was still gripping his fork. Adrien's head jerked up to look at her. She smiled softly.

"Our doors are always open, and you are always welcome. Anytime, Adrien," she told him. Slowly, the tension dissipated. Adrien's grip on his utensils loosened, his shoulders relaxed. A small smile spread across his lips.

"Thank you," he said, his voice thick.

Sabine smiled a little bigger before pulling her hand away. Dinner resumed, maybe a little quieter than it had been before, but the conversation picked up again. When they'd finished, Adrien _insisted_ on helping with dishes.

He and Marinette were drying when there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be Nathalie," Adrien said, setting down his plate and dishtowel. The smile he'd had a moment ago gone. "Thank you, again, Mrs. Cheng, Mr. Dupain." He said to Sabine and Tom. "Everything was wonderful."

"Anytime," Sabine reminded him with a kind smile.

"We hope to see you again _very_ soon, Adrien," Tom commented, smiling and winking.

"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, her face flushing. Nathalie knocked again. "I'll walk you out." She offered hurriedly, turning toward Adrien, just wanting to get him away from her parents before they said something too indiscrete.

"Goodnight," Adrien told Marinette's parents before following their daughter to the door. Sure enough, Nathalie was waiting patiently outside the door, standing with perfect posture and a poker face, hands behind her back.

"Adrien," she greeted coolly. "The car's ready and waiting."

"Thanks, Nathalie," Adrien responded, stepping out and turning to face Marinette. For the second time in his life, he didn't know what to say, unwilling to say goodbye, not wanting to leave such a warm, cozy home and go back to his large, cold, empty house. "Uh…"

Marinette stepped out, pulling the door almost all the way closed, calling through the opening in the door, "I'll be right back!" and closing it. She smiled at Adrien, ignoring the look Nathalie was giving her, before starting for the stairs. She opened the door for them. Adrien's car was waiting at the curb directly parallel to the door.

Nathalie exited first. Adrien's ginormous bodyguard, who Marinette was shocked and surprised to find could fit in that small car, stepped out to open the door for her.

Adrien followed more reluctantly, exiting and turning back to face Marinette again.

"Well, I guess I'll…see you tomorrow, then," he said quietly. Marinette had to stifle her giggles. She'd _never_ seen Adrien Agreste, model and son of famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, look so…shy!

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Marinette smiled widely, laughter dancing in her eyes, effectively stunning the boy.

"Adrien," Nathalie called from the car. "We should really get you home now."

Adrien glanced over his shoulder, "Be right there." He turned back to face Marinette, trying to decide if they were at the stage in their relationship where he could hug her and it wouldn't be weird. Usually, something like this wouldn't have made him so nervous, but with Nathalie impatiently waiting for him and all his jumbled feelings regarding Marinette and Ladybug, he found his heart racing, his hands shaking.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said quickly, deciding against the hug, and spinning around and heading to the car.

Marinette watched him go, with a small, sad smile, thinking about what she had been the past week or so—being disappointed in himself, his pause when she'd asked him what he was thinking about, him outright telling her he felt useless, tonight…his mom. She thought about the things Tikki had told her.

"Adrien!" she called suddenly, running forward and taking his wrist in her hand. Adrien stopped, his heart jumping in his chest so hard from the contact it was physically painful. He turned to look at her questioningly. She met his eyes, and for once, her words flowed smoothly and without mistakes, "I just want you to know, you can talk to me. About anything."

Adrien stared back at her, an emotion swirling in his green eyes she couldn't decipher. He pulled his wrist out of her hand before shocking her and throwing his arms around her.

"Thank you," he murmured in her ear.

Marinette took a shaky breath in, and smiled, wrapping her arms around him. She could feel the heat coming off him and he smelled like something sweet but also warm, something that reminded her of a soft pillow or the fabric of flannel.

Adrien marveled at the warmth Marinette gave off in the cold night air. She smelled like fresh bread and honey. He unconsciously tightened his arms around her.

All too soon, for both of them, they pulled away. They looked at each other for another long moment, before Nathalie called Adrien's name again.

"Bye, Marinette," Adrien said quietly, slowly, before pulling away and getting into the car. His bodyguard slammed the door shut and brusquely got into the driver's seat, not giving Marinette and second glance.

Marinette weakly waved, though she couldn't see Adrien inside the car, he could probably see her.

"Bye, Adrien."

* * *

 **Much,** _ **much**_ **longer than my two previous chapters and a bunch of Adrienette fluff! (On a sidenote,** _ **writing**_ **montages is really hard and I would recommend not doing it. I hope it translated okay.)**

 **Happy (Almost) Valentine's Day!**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	4. Four

**As always, I'd like to thank legend-of-sora for letting me write a fic based of her short comic.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Magnifico!

Marinette's heart was pounding so fast and so hard in her chest, she was afraid that either it was going to give out at any moment or it was going to burst from her chest. Her hands were shaking so badly, she could barely grasp the doorknob to exit the changing room. She was no doubt blushing so badly, the photographer was going to have to edit it out in post.

"Come on, Marinette," Tikki encouraged softly. "You can do this."

Marinette tried to grasp the handle before shaking her head, dropping her hand.

"I can't do it," she whispered. "I can't do it."

"You've made it this far," the kwami said.

"But this is different," Marinette objected. "We were…reading books and…and doing research! Making things!"

"You're still working on the project."

Marinette groaned, putting her head in her hands and leaning against the door. Even though her dress had been tailored to fit her, it was feeling tight around the chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

Tikki flew up toward her charge, sensing Marinette's growing anxiety. Tikki tugged at Marinette's fingers before lifting her chin and floating back a few inches, so Marinette could see her kwami.

"It's going to be all right," Tikki assured. "You've saved the world multiple times, Marinette. You can do this photoshoot. Just try to take some deep breaths, okay?"

Marinette nodded, trying to slow her breathing, which made it sound like she was gasping at first. Finally, after what felt like at least thirty minutes, but was probably only three, her hands stopped shaking as badly and her dress didn't feel as tight anymore.

Tikki gave Marinette one last encouraging smile before disappearing in the folds of Marinette's skirt. (You never knew when an akuma attack was going to happen.)

Marinette straightened up and turned to the door, glancing down at the knob before reaching up and grasping it. With another deep breath, she turned the knob and pulled it open, before she lost her nerve, stepping out of the dressing room and making her way to the studio, just down the hall.

When she opened that door—without much trouble—and stepped inside, Adrien and the photographer who Adrien introduced as Luciano, were already there, waiting. She felt her fact grow hot and her heart pick up speed again.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," she started babbling, walking in. "I was having a little trouble with the dress—" Unfortunately for her, she wasn't use to this style of dress, especially the shoes she was wearing, and managed to trip on air. Letting out a yelp, arms flailing, she pitched forward. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact, but Adrien was there, catching her, steadying her. His hands gripped her arms firmly, and she'd fallen right into his chest.

With a gasp, she quickly pulled away, straightening up, ginning maybe a bit too widely.

"Thanks," she managed with a nervous laugh. For some reason, her brain had gone to that time she and Chat Noir had fought that pharaoh, and she'd gotten stuck in that weird time bubble. When Chat Noir had freed her from it, she'd fallen into him almost exactly as she'd fallen in Adrien just now.

Weird.

"No problem," Adrien said, breaking her from her thoughts. "Ready for the first set?" Was it just Marinette's imagination or was he also blushing? It was hard to tell, because all the light, coming from large, square-shaped lamps, was focused on a large spot at the back of the room with white covering the middle of the wall and some of the floor. The rest of the room was dark. With Adrien's giant bodyguard standing off to the side, it also felt like a horror movie, with a big monster looming in the shadows.

Marinette nodded silently, her nerves spiking again. Before she could calm herself down, however, Adrien took her hand and started to pull her toward where they were going to stand for the pictures. She choked on a small yelp-squeal and tried to keep pace with him, so he wasn't dragging her.

She squinted her eyes a bit as they stepped into the bright lights. And when they came into focus, and she got to see Adrien in his suit, her heart almost stopped (or maybe it did completely, she wasn't sure). Adrien had always been handsome to her, but now he was classically handsome. Her mind was having a little trouble processing it. Her hands started shaking badly again, too.

Silently cursing herself, she gripped the skirt of her dress, trying to keep them from shaking so badly.

"You okay?" Adrien asked, noticing her hands.

Marinette laughed. "Yeah, fine! Just…just a little nervous."

"That's natural for you first photoshoot," Adrien assured. "You'll do great."

"Are we ready to go?" Luciano said, reminding Marinette he was there, also making her nearly jump out of her shoes.

"Yeah," Adrien answered. "Thanks for waiting, Luciano."

They were going to three separate photos for each outfit—except for the 2015 fashion trends, they were going to wear those during the presentation. One would be of Marinette alone, Adrien alone, then both of them together.

Luciano decided it would be better to start with them together, not failing to notice how nervous Marinette was.

However, that still didn't help much. Despite having sort-of starting to get over her nervousness around Adrien, Marinette had never been in a photoshoot before. Not only that, but she didn't want to mess this up. _Also_ , this was a big part of Adrien's life. Sure, she'd known that he'd modeled (who didn't?), but she was getting a glimpse into what exactly that entailed. She felt she was learning something personal about him that none of her other friends, let alone the public, got to see.

After a few tries, Luciano asked his assistant to bring in some stools, hoping that if Marinette was sitting, he'd get something useable. Unfortunately, it only told the girl she was messing up and made her more nervous. Finally, mercifully, the photographer called a break before turning to his assistant and talking in hushed tones (not that he really needed to because he was speaking Italian).

Marinette sighed and groaned, dropping her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry," she apologized miserably. "I'm messing everything up. I don't mean to take up so much of your time."

Adrien rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. Marinette's head snapped up and she met those gorgeous green eyes.

"Why don't we take your mind off this for a little bit?" Adrien suggested, his eyes flickering around the room before resting on Marinette again. "I can see why this whole set-up can be a bit intimidating."

Marinette managed a smile. Adrien was being so sweet and understanding.

"Tell me about your dream for the future," Adrien suggested, pulling his hand back and smiling encouragingly.

Marinette shifted uncomfortably, chewing on her lip for a moment before tentatively talking about how she first got into fashion, relaxing the more she talked about her passion.

Adrien found himself staring at Marinette, with a small smile on his lips. The way she got so excited and so enthusiastic when she talked about her dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer like his father, was just…magical, almost. She just lit up, like a Christmas tree—glowing and beautiful. Her energy level matched the levels she had when she was nervous, but it was softer, not as quick or panicky. It was natural.

Marinette's eyes flickered over to Adrien, finally noticing his staring, and she broke off mid-sentence, blushing.

"Oh, was I talking too much?" she asked timidly. "I have a tendency to get over-excited sometimes. You can just tell me to shut up, I'll understand." Marinette laughed off her embarrassment.

Adrien straightened up, blinking away his haze, laying his hand on hers. "No, no, Marinette, that's not it at all. I…love listening to you talk."

Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her lip, but stiffened suddenly, her eyes going wide. Her head snapped up and she looked at Adrien. "Oh, we were in the middle of a photoshoot! What time is it! How long was I talking! You should've told me—"

Adrien leaned over and gripped Marinette's shoulders, causing her to break off. "It's fine," he assured. "Luciano started taking pictures at some point." He pulled back. "I think he has all he needs of us together. Well, in these outfits, anyway."

"Oh," Marinette laughed and rubbed the back of her head, feeling her face flush. "I don't know how well I'll do by myself, though."

"Just focus on me, or think about your family, or what you were telling me just now," Adrien told her. "You'll be fine. And I can go first, if you want."

Marinette wanted to object, having messed up today's photoshoot enough already, but decided it was probably best he went first. Having done this before, many times before, taking his pictures would be quick and easy. She wasn't sure how she was going to calm herself down enough to make it look more natural, but she would figure that out when the time came. She was _terrible_ at improv, but at the same time whenever she planned something out it never seemed to go as planned anyway. With her, when it involved Adrien, it was usually lose-lose.

Well it had been before, but ever since this project started, things had actually been going all right. The more she spent time with him, the more her nerves calmed down. Which made it easier to be around Adrien and actually form coherent sentences. Obviously, she still had her moments, but they no longer revolved around the mere fact that she was with Adrien. After coming to realize that he _was_ just a person (a dashing, handsome, sweet, kind, smart person) had really helped her be around him without freaking out.

Marinette felt reluctant about watching Adrien model. It felt like something personal. She felt like she was intruding. Even though by agreeing to do this photoshoot, he'd given her permission to be here, she still felt she shouldn't be watching. Maybe it was because of her infatuation before her revelation—keeping that schedule of where he was, having all those pictures from the magazines taped on her wall (which she'd since taken down permanently). She wanted to get to know him on his terms, and the _real_ him, not just the him that was plastered all around Paris.

Despite this, it wasn't like she could just leave with some lame excuse about having to use to the bathroom. They still had to take her photos, too.

She stood next to Luciano as he snapped his photos, trying to remind herself that it was fine. As long as she kept in mind that there was more to Adrien than being a famous model and the son of a renowned fashion designer, it would be okay. This was only one facet of who he was.

Marinette knew he'd been doing this for a while, but she was still amazed at how he made it look so easy. Luciano would give him a suggestion or an instruction and Adrien would adjust accordingly so smoothly. It was almost like watching a dance. It was fascinating.

At one point, Adrien met Marinette's eyes and smiled at her.

" _Magnifico_!" Luciano exclaimed, causing both teens to jump. The photographer pulled his camera away from his face a little bit before pointing at Adrien. "Smile like that!"

Adrien blinked, looking puzzled for a moment before his eyes flickered back to Marinette. She smiled and giggled, causing Adrien's heart to do a gymnastics routine in his chest. He reached up and rubbed the back of his head, smiling nervously. (Marinette absolutely loved that little quirk about him.)

The rest of the photoshoot for that day went smoother. Marinette was still nervous, but after the tip Adrien had given her about focusing on him and not the camera, thinking about her family, and about her dream she felt way more comfortable than she had in the dressing room.

Even better, even with Marinette's nerves and babbling, they were still on schedule.

* * *

It was the Sunday before the presentation. Marinette and Adrien had finished putting their project together that Friday and practiced on Saturday. Today, they were hanging out, just relaxing before the school week began again. This was probably the first time they'd hung out without working on the project. Dinner at Marinette's house (which was becoming a frequent thing—Adrien had had dinner with them almost every day that week) didn't count because her parents were there.

They'd been hanging out at the park near the bakery, having just finished eating some ice cream. Currently, they were sitting on the edge of the water fountain, looking around the park in a comfortable silence.

Adrien shifted, so he could lean back a little. Only when he put his hands down to steady himself and hold him up, one of them landed on Marinette's. They both jumped. Adrien quickly pulled his hand away and looked away, straitening up and pulling his legs up toward his body.

"Sorry," he mumbled, glancing over at Marinette who was blushing as much as he felt he was blushing.

"It's fine," Marinette assured with a small smile, also only looking over at him through the corners of her eyes.

"Uh…so…are you, um, nervous about the presentation tomorrow?" Adrien asked, suddenly _needing_ to fill the silence. Also, mentally scolding himself for such a stupid question. They'd been practicing basically all day yesterday, of course she wasn't going to be nervous.

"Oh, uh, maybe a little," Marinette answered, looking up at the sky before looking over at Adrien. "You know, I think I'm more relieved to finally have this project done than anything else."

Adrien nodded, seeing nothing wrong with her comment, but suddenly those gorgeous blue eyes widened and Marinette flushed (again), her body stiffening. Her hand shot out and grabbed his.

"Not saying that I didn't enjoy working on it with you!" she started quickly. "I _love_ you—" She squeezed his hand tighter, bringing her other hand up to smack her forehead. "I mean I loved working with you! I had a lot of fun. And I'm really glad you stayed for dinner with us. My parents have really enjoyed your company. And the photoshoot was a lot of fun. You're really good a modeling. Not that you shouldn't be. You've been doing this for a long time…"

Marinette continued on, but Adrien's brain had shut down after her first sentence. All he could hear now as the blood roaring in his ears.

When she'd grabbed her hand it wasn't like the usual times they'd accidentally made physical contact—like being shocked. No, when she'd grabbed his hand this time, it felt like he'd been struck by lightning. His heart skipped a few beats before it felt like it'd stopped completely. He couldn't concentrate on anything but the fact that she was _holding his hand_.

When this project had first started, Adrien had been thoroughly confused about his feelings. Something had blossomed in his chest those first few days, and it hadn't gone away, it had only grown since then, slowly eclipsing his feelings toward Ladybug. Well, more like these new feelings had integrated with his other feelings toward Ladybug and redirected them toward Marinette. It wasn't some crush or puppy love, he'd fallen _hard_ for Marinette.

Despite its slow bloom, the realization had snuck up on him. He never thought that his feelings toward Ladybug would ever change. On some level, he still loved Ladybug, looked up to her, admired her. They were great together, great partners, a team.

But having hung out with Marinette more than he'd ever for this project, he realized that he really enjoyed her company. She was still nervous sometimes, which still confused him (was something about the way he presented himself intimidating?), but it'd become less and less. She also started treating him differently. The difference between the before and after were very subtle.

Adrien hadn't even noticed she treated him differently until she had started doing just that. It was one of those things where you didn't realize something until it had changed. And that's what happened with Marinette's treatment of him. It wasn't the nervousness—he was _very_ awareof that, despite not knowing why she acted that way around him. It was much subtler things.

The way she looked at him, the way she smiled at him. When she talked with him at dinner, or about the project, or when she had been teaching him how to sew a simple stitch. There was an earnestness about it, it felt more…genuine. Like they were connecting on a human level, and not vastly different levels where he was this famous, super-rich model, whose face was plastered all over Paris. He felt comfortable around Marinette. Like he could be more of himself.

And maybe that was part of the reason his feelings had shifted. It wasn't that Ladybug had stopped treating him like an equal, as opposed to an idol. It was more like, the fronts he had to put up while Adrien could finally come down around Marinette. Ladybug was still opposed to revealing their secret identities to each other.

With Marinette, he almost felt like he was merging the two sides of himself. Slowly, and painstakingly at times, but it was definitely happening. And it wasn't that they were completely separated to begin with, rather, it _felt_ like Adrien-from-class and Chat Noir were two separate entities in his mind.

Adrien blinked and realized Marinette had stopped talking. Her face was cherry red and she was still gripping his hand. It also looked like she'd stopped breathing.

 _I should say something,_ he thought in a slight panic. Had she asked him something? Had she admitted something big? Adrien searched back through the last few moments, but his brain had failed him. He couldn't remember anything other than her speaking rapidly and looking flustered.

What was the last thing he _remembered_? Something about the project...oh, right!

Adrien tried for a reassuring smile and said, "It's all right, I understood what you meant." hoping that was even relevant to why she was staring at him with such a stricken look.

Marinette relaxed, relief flooding through her. So either she'd babbled so fast that Adrien hadn't understood her, or he'd zoned out for some reason or other. It didn't really matter to Marinette at the time. All the mattered was the fact he hadn't heard her say she loved him. That was the most crucial part.

Then she realized she was still holding his hand and froze again. When had that happened?

"Oh, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized and pulled her hand away. Adrien jolted slightly as soon as he lost contact.

"Oh, I—" Adrien started, ducking his head, swallowing hard. "I mean…I didn't mind." He mumbled, feeling his face grow hot.

Marinette stared at him surprised before her face broke into a smile. She opened her mouth, about to say something when a figure appeared in the sky, flying in an arc, down toward the street, right in front of the Boulangerie Patisserie.

Marinette and Adrien shot to their feet and watched as it came flying in at an alarming speed, hitting the pavement so hard, it left a crater in the road, a shockwave of dust and small rocks shooting outward from ground zero. There was the sound of glass shattering, but everything was happening so fast, Marinette didn't have a chance to see where it had come from or what glass had broken.

One moment Marinette was staring at where the figure had landed, in shock, the next arms had engulfed her, and she was staring at a familiar black shirt with three colored stripes across the chest. The shockwave hit then, and Marinette squeezed her eyes shut out of instinct. When the wave passed, she opened her eyes again just as Adrien stepped away, but he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asked. In the background, what looked to be another victim under the influence of an akuma was yelling indignantly about something Marinette couldn't quite catch.

Her eyes flickered back to Adrien. "I'm fine," she managed. "Are-are you okay?"

Adrien blinked, his eyes widening slightly, before he smiled self-consciously, his shoulder hunching slightly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He pulled his hands away, one reaching up to rub the back of his head, releasing a miniature storm of dust. "Just a little…dusty."

Marinette smiled at his nervousness. Then the akuma victim grabbed her attention, reminding her she had a job to. Adrien turned, too. She glanced at him through the corners of her eyes. She had to think of a way to get away so she could transform.

When she looked back at what was happening she realized there was glass lying on the ground around the bakery. She was confused for a long moment before she realized that the glass in the bakery's windows had shattered and collapsed. That's the sound she'd heard when the akumatized person had landed. She almost ran forward right then and there, forgetting that Adrien was standing next to her.

"My parents!" she exclaimed, turning to face the boy. "I-I should check on them. Make sure they're okay." Not giving him time to answer, she started to dash off, but he caught her wrist.

"Wait," he said. "You hide, I'll go check on them for you."

Marinette pouted angrily. "I can handle myself," she objected.

"Oh." Adrien let go of her wrist and took a step back. "It's not that. I didn't mean—" He looked away, feeling like an idiot. Of _course_ she could handle herself. He knew that! His eyes flickered back up to her. "I just…didn't want you to get hurt."

Marinette stopped short, her anger evaporating. She couldn't just let him go by himself, either. What if he got hurt? Then, again, she really did need to get away.

Either way she had to make a decision. And fast. As long as she could get away from Adrien and transform, it would all right. As Ladybug, she felt she was better equipped to help Adrien out of rough spot if he managed to find trouble. She also needed to take care of this akuma before things got too out of hand. Who knew how much damage this person had done already?

"Okay," she finally decided. "I'll…go hide behind that bench over there." She pointed to one just across from them. "Um, just…be careful, okay? And, thank you."

Adrien nodded and replied, "No problem." before he took off. Marinette watched him go before Tikki poked her head out of Marinette's purse.

"Spots on, Marinette!" she reminded the girl.

"Right." Marinette ran over to the bench she'd pointed out and jumped over, just so she was out of sight. "Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

Marinette exited her room and apartment as soon as she'd de-transformed, the akuma attack taken care of.

"I didn't see Adrien anywhere," the girl fretted out loud as she sprinted down the steps to the front door. She didn't want to risk going to the park and de-transforming only to have Adrien be there, having seen the whole thing. She just hoped she could get to the park before he came back. Wherever he'd disappeared to. "I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he's fine," Tikki assured.

Marinette got to the door and peeked out, to make sure Adrien wasn't around. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to explain that to him, coming out from her apartment.

Determining the coast was clear, she slipped out and ran back to the park. Adrien was already there, and he was standing near the bench Marinette had told him she was going to hide behind. She couldn't see his facial expression, but his head hung, his shoulders hunched. He was so still, he could've been a statue had she not known better.

Marinette's heart dropped and she slowed to a stop.

"Adrien!" She called, waving her arm and running toward him again. The blond's head snapped up and he looked toward the sound of her voice. His green eyes were wide and looked…shiny? No, Marinette realized, _watery_. Her heart dropped to her feet and she slowed again, stopping a few yards away from him.

He must've been so worried about her. But…at the same time, she couldn't fathom why he was _that_ worried about her safety. Sure they'd become better friends over the course of this project, but she didn't know how deep their relationship went.

There was a point between when Marinette first realized Adrien was just a boy, a person, and now, where Marinette had realized that the calm, cool, collected persona he had at school were his walls. He seemed to always be hiding, even around his friends. Which made Marinette feel bad for him. She felt bad that he felt he couldn't be himself around the people he called his friends. Was it because of his home life? His father's teachings? His mother's disappearance? Being a model? A combination of all four with more unknown factors that Marinette didn't know about?

Marinette was broken from her thoughts when Adrien came up to her, throwing his arms around her. His grip was tight. Marinette froze, unsure what to do, still a little shocked at how emotional he was. Not shocked that he was _this_ worried about her (she actually thought that it was quite sweet), but because he'd dropped some of his walls.

"You're all right," he murmured, not letting go, or loosening his grip for that matter.

"Yeah, I…there was a kid who'd lost his parent," Marinette lied. "I didn't want him to get hurt. I didn't mean to worry you so much."

"No, it's fine, I just—" Adrien broke off, squeezing his eyes shut as his they burned with unshed tears. He tightened his grip on Marinette for a long second—she was here, she was safe, she was okay, she wasn't going to evaporate if he let go—before pulling back and looking away, trying to keep his tears from falling.

Marinette gently took his hand and stepped closer to him. He chanced a quick glance from the corners of his eyes, which were still filled with tears. She had a soft smile on her lips.

"It's okay," she told him softly, giving his hand a small squeeze. "You can talk to me."

Adrien looked fully at Marinette, then. He opened his mouth and tried to say something, but nothing came out. He looked away again, working up the nerve. He'd been careful to stay away from his family life when he had dinner with Marinette and her parents. It was still…painful. But he'd also longed to talk to someone about it.

Plagg was actually quite a conversationalist—when he wasn't wanting cheese or making fun of Adrien for his crush on Ladybug (which was basically all the time, but that wasn't the point). And being as old as he was, he had good insights. But Adrien also craved that _human_ connection. He had friends at school, sure, but the human connection he was looking for was different than that. It went deeper, to the very core of his being. He wanted to be able to talk about _anything_ , including his family problems, without the worry of being judged because he wasn't being Gabriel Agreste's son, he was being Adrien. Not even Adrien Agreste, just…Adrien.

"My mom," Adrien finally managed quietly. "The day she disappeared…something like what happened today—it was just too similar. And I…" Adrien lifted his free hand, looking at his now-silver ring. "…I couldn't protect her."

Marinette didn't know what to say to ("I'm sorry" didn't feel sincere; and it wasn't like she could even _begin_ to understand how that must have felt), so she simply pulled him into a hug, holding him just as tightly as he'd held her a moment ago.

Adrien tensed up at first, not expecting that. And, to be honest, he wasn't sure _what_ he was expecting, because he'd never talked to anyone about it, but it certainly wasn't this. But her warmth and the smell of fresh baked bread and honey was comforting. Her just _being_ here was already making him feel better. Having been able to talk to her about his mom's disappearance some had felt strangely good. Painful, for sure, but also…nice. Relieving.

Adrien wrapped his arms around Marinette, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, his eyes sliding closed.

Marinette smiled, listening to his deep sigh, happy that he felt comfortable enough at this point to opened up to her.

* * *

Marinette twirled, gripping her umbrella to make sure that she stayed dry, marveling at the sound of the rain pouring down over, well, everything. She smiled up at a streetlamp, watching the rain through the light. Because it was already dark out, it was hard to see the rain anywhere else other than the light.

Behind her, her parents followed a little more slowly. While they didn't need to, because Sabine had her own umbrella, they were sharing Tom's umbrella, watching their daughter with warm smiles and sparkling eyes.

They'd just gone out for dinner to celebrate the millionth customer at the bakery.

Not only that, but on Monday the presentation had gone spectacular. On Friday, grades had also come, and Marinette had gotten good marks, which was another thing to celebrate. She and Adrien's presentation had gotten a particularly good mark, as well, so it was very gratifying to know that after all the hard work they'd done, they'd gotten such a good score.

Marinette and her parents didn't go out all that often, so this had been a special treat for all of them.

"Hey, Mom," Marinette called back, spinning and walking backward so she could face her parents. They were close to home now, walking right next to the building their shop and apartment was located in. Just a few more feet, a corner to turn, and they'd be home. "Will you make hot cocoa when we get in, please?"

Sabine smiled. "Of course, dear."

Her mom's hot cocoa held the sweetest memories for Marinette. They filled her memories with a warm, orange glow (like the sunset from the Eiffel Tower). Nights where she couldn't sleep; nights when she had a nightmare; a steaming hot cup of cocoa on a cold, grey, overcast and/or rainy day, much like today had been.

Despite the rain, though, Marinette was elated.

As they came up to the corner, she did another twirl out of pure happiness, but stopped short when their front door came into view. Her umbrella fell from her numb hand. The rain was ice cold, and trickled down her neck, under her shirt, leaving trails of goosebumps in its wake. But she didn't feel any of it—the cold, the water sliding down her back, her goosebumps rising, none of it.

This lasted about 2, 3 seconds.

"Adrien!" she gasped, dashing forward.

* * *

 **So, um, I** _ **kind of**_ **feel bad that this is cliffhanger, but…only kind of.**

 **Sorry for the wait. Things got super hectic over the weekend, and this week was super busy. And I mean, this weekend is also going to be super busy for me, but I managed to write during my periodic 15 minutes breaks, which is how I'm posting now. So, needless to say, I'm going to try and write as much as possible during most of my 15 minutes breaks.**

 **Also, I'm sorry some this stuff is so vague. Like, I wanted to describe why Marinette had gotten into fashion, but I don't know French culture** _ **at all**_ **, so, like, I couldn't have done it justice. And I skipped over the akuma fight because this is mainly an Adrienette fic. (Ladybug and Chat Noir will show up when needed, rest assured.)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! (So many emotions, I'm sure. Well, more like I hope.)**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	5. Five

**As always, a big thank you to legend-of-sora.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Sometimes, Just Being There is Enough

Marinette quickly dashed forward, toward the figure huddled up, leaning against one of the pillars that was holding up the roof.

Marinette's hands shook as she knelt in front of the figure, reaching out to gently as Adrien lifted his head. He was shivering and his clothes were soaking wet, like he'd walked (or run) all the way here, then opted to wait for them to return when no one answered the door. His normally iridescent green eyes were dull now, and they were red-rimmed like he'd been crying recently.

She laid a gentle hand on his cheek, the other hand going to his shoulder, worry filling every pore of her body. Ice water washed through her veins, like the rain had somehow made its way underneath her skin.

 _Her hands are warm,_ Adrien thought as he looked back at the concerned girl before him.

By this time, Tom and Sabine had caught up with their daughter, having seen her drop her umbrella and rush forward. Tom gave his umbrella to Sabine and took off his jacket. Marinette pulled back slightly to allow Tom to throw his jacket over Adrien's shoulders.

"Marinette, Tom, take him inside," Sabine instructed. "I'll be right behind you." She turned and went to retrieve Marinette's umbrella as Tom gently took one of Adrien's arms and helped him to his feet. Marinette followed her dad as he ushered the other teen inside. She glanced back at her mom who was closing the umbrellas before she slipped inside as well. Tom and Adrien had already made it to the landing and were starting up the second flight of stairs the apartment's front door.

Marinette quickly followed, waiting for her mom to get up the stairs before closing the front door and following her parents. They'd sat Adrien down in the kitchen at the counter where her family and Adrien had eaten dinner this past week. Adrien was shivering even more violently now. Her parents were standing behind the couch, near the stairs that led up to her bedroom.

"Should we get him to the hospital?" Marinette asked quietly, walking up to them. "What if he's developed hypothermia?"

"N-n-no," Adrien managed, causing the three Dupain-Cheng's to look at him. "I d-don't wa-want to g-go to the ho-hospital. P-please." He pulled Tom's coat tighter around him and hunched even more in his seat.

Marinette looked back at her parents, panic starting to cloud her thoughts. How was she supposed to act in this kind of situation? What was he even doing here? And why had he come? What could've upset him so much?

"Tom, will you go fetch some blankets from the hall cupboard? And turn up the heater while you're at it." Sabine told her husband in a soothing, soft voice. Tom nodded and headed off. Sabine laid a firm, but gentle hand on her Marinette's shoulder. "Sit with him. I'll make you both some hot cocoa."

Sabine started to head off, but Marinette grabbed her mom's wrist.

"What do I say?" she whispered, glancing over at Adrien.

"Sometimes, just being there is enough," Sabine answered. "The right words will come in time." Marinette watched as her mom entered the kitchen, careful to skirt around Adrien as she was getting supplies to make the hot cocoa.

Marinette swallowed hard and looked back at Adrien. With her heart pounding in her throat, she made her way over to the kitchen, pulling up a stool across from him. He kept his head and eyes downcast, gripping Tom's jacket so hard his knuckles were white.

She tried not to stare at him too much, but she also felt she needed to say something or… _do_ something. She felt absolutely useless just _sitting_ there. But the words weren't forming. She'd been doing so well, her brain behaving and pulling words from her vocabulary, putting them in the right order when she was around Adrien.

But this was entirely new territory. Adrien was obviously in distress, and he'd chosen _Marinette's family_ for comfort. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but was afraid he wouldn't want to talk about it. She wanted to tell him it was going to be okay, but she didn't know what he was upset over, so those words were empty.

As Sabine warmed up the cocoa and milk in a pot on the stove, Marinette tried to think of a way to comfort Adrien without actually talking. She thought back to all those times she'd been upset and how her parents had helped her.

The first thing that came to mind was the fact that they listened to her. They didn't interrupt, they didn't try to offer advice, they simply listened to her. Since Adrien wasn't exactly talking, that wasn't an option quite yet.

They'd also put their arms around her, hug her, lie with her in bed. It was comforting to have someone next to you, to know you weren't alone. But she was unsure about where her relationship with Adrien was. Were they close enough that she could put her arm around him? Maybe. They'd hugged plenty of times, but with her choice to sit opposite him, hugging wasn't really an option at the time. And it didn't look like now was really the time for sleeping, let along lying in bed.

Sometimes her parents would take her hands when she was talking—that thought struck her like lightening. She could hold his hand. That wasn't an invasion of space, but it also told him he wasn't alone.

Without really thinking, she started to reach out toward him, across the table. His eyes, which had been staring into the middle-distance, focused on her hand before going to her face and she froze.

"Uh…" She tried to speak, but no words would come out. Her pounding heart was still in the way. So instead, she held her hand out a little further, palm up. Adrien's eyes slowly slid back to Marinette's hand. Marinette counted to thirty before starting to retract her hand, feeling a blush start to creep up to her face. Before she could fully pull away, however, Adrien's hand shot out and grasped hers tightly.

Marinette flinched and tried not to pull away. His hand was as cold as death.

They rested their hands on the table and she looked up to see Adrien looking at her. She smiled and squeezed his hand.

A warm feeling flared in the middle of Adrien's chest at her smile, burning away the hollow coldness he'd felt there ever since getting home that afternoon. He could feel the heat from Marinette's hand seep into his own. He managed a small smile back at the girl across from him.

Tom came back into the kitchen with a large fuzzy towel and a large fuzzy blanket. Adrien let go of Tom's jacket, but not Marinette's hand, allowing Marinette's dad to drape first the towel, then the blanket over the blond's shoulders. Sabine had finished heating the hot cocoa and had poured them into mugs when Tom had come in. Tom stepped aside to allow his wife to set the mugs on the counter—one for Marinette, one for Adrien.

Sabine turned toward Tom and had a silent conversation with him.

"We'll be right back, all right?" Tom asked, looking at Marinette. She nodded and her parents left. She wasn't quite sure what they were going off to do, but that was fine. She was more focused on Adrien at the moment.

It was silent for a little bit. Marinette sipped her hot cocoa. Adrien had taken his mug into his free hand, but was staring off into the distance again. He was still shivering. A new wave of concern washed over Marinette. She didn't want him to get hypothermia, or sick, because he wasn't warming up fast enough.

Biting her lip, she started working up the courage to say something.

"Are…are you—you feeling a l-little warmer?" she finally managed, her heart pounding so hard against her chest it was painful.

She noticed his grip tighten around his mug. "A little." His voice was quiet and hoarse.

"You should really try it," Marinette said softly, trying to catch Adrien's gaze. "It's the best hot cocoa in Paris, if I do say so myself." That got a small smile from Adrien. Some of the concern dissipated.

The model stared down at the mug for a long moment before finally bringing it to his lips and took a sip.

Marinette became nervous for a totally different reason, then. When he finally set the cup down, she looked at him for a verdict. His smile was a little bigger this time, his eyes less glazed.

"It's very good," he agreed. Marinette couldn't help but smile at this, her eyes closing for a moment, causing the warmth in Adrien's chest to flare, spreading from his chest to his stomach, and slowly out toward his limbs. He blinked rapidly and averted his gaze, back to his mug.

"So, um, Adrien," Marinette started hesitantly. The boy's eyes flickered back up to her warily. "You know, you can talk to me about anything, right?"

His grip tightened on his mug again. He tried not to grip Marinette's hand, but she no doubt felt him tense up. He lowered his eyes to his mug again and took a deep breath. He could feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes already, but he felt Marinette deserved to know. He'd come seeking her, after all. And it wasn't like he hadn't told her something personal before. Telling her about his mom hadn't any severe consequences so far.

"You know…grades came today," he barely managed to choke out. Marinette nodded, and bit her tongue on all the questions she wanted to ask: _Did he get a bad grade on something? Is his father disappointed in him? Did he fail something?_

Like he could read her mind, he said, "It's…not that I failed anything. I got perfect marks, in fact." A bitter laugh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes as his tears pooled in his eyes. He felt Marinette's hand squeeze his.

Marinette swallowed hard. "Did your father…" She faltered, not quite sure where she was going with that sentence.

Adrien opened his eyes again, but kept his gaze fixed on the mug in front of him. "He…he didn't say _anything_. He didn't even send Nathalie—" He broke off, not sure he could continue without crying, and he _really_ didn't feel like crying right now. Not in front of Marinette. He had an image to keep, he couldn't be sad. He had to be cool and collected, always. He wasn't allowed to show how much these things affected him—he _couldn't_. He had a legacy, his father's name, to uphold.

And here he had thought he'd make progress. But his walls had gone up on instinct. (Too late.) He'd been an idiot to open them up in the first place. Not because he'd opened up to Marinette, she'd provided such a warmth and kindness, but because he'd opened up to the hurt that came with the knowledge that his father couldn't even take time to look at his grades. As soon as there'd been a sign of pain, they'd slammed down, blocking out everything. Including Marinette.

Marinette scrambled, feeling horrible for asking about what was bothering him. She could see his eyes filled with tears that were on the verge of spilling. It had to be from sheer force of will that Adrien wasn't crying right now.

She stuttered, trying to start a sentence, say something to somehow cheer him up or take his mind off his grades. Saying, _I'm sorry_ , didn't seem genuine enough. She didn't want to tell him it was going to okay, either, because she wasn't sure if it was. Even though he would go to school and act like nothing was wrong, she knew that he had to go home to a huge empty house. She knew that Adrien rarely saw his father in person. That _had_ to affect him in some way. He was just good at hiding it.

Marinette started to feel so bad for Adrien it hurt. She yearned to comfort him. She wished she could use Tikki's powers, shout, "Miraculous Ladybug!" and fix everything for Adrien. Bring back his missing mom, bring back his absent father, bring back a family he wanted and needed.

But because that was impossible, she found herself talking about her family instead. All the good memories—when she was first learning how to bake, helping out in the shop, family dinners, celebrations, every funny story she could think of. She held on to Adrien's hand and just kept talking, babbling almost.

To her surprise, Adrien seemed to really like her stories. His whole body relaxed, his pained expression melted into a relaxed, small smile. He even laughed when she was explain when she'd accidentally created a flour bomb that'd covered her, her parents, and their whole kitchen in a thin layer of flour.

"One time," Marinette started, just barely able to talk through her giggles. "We were making smoothies. And you know how some of those fancier blenders have a bunch of settings? Well, me being my seven-year-old self, I liked to press buttons. They'd already blended most of the smoothie, but were going to put something else in, right? So, while they're backs were turned, I got up on one of the stools and pressed _all_ the buttons. Since they'd wanted to put more in, the lid wasn't on, and I finally got the button that made the smoothie shoot out of the blender and hit the ceiling before raining down on all three of us!"

Adrien smiled and snickered at that, his eyes gaining back the usual light Marinette saw in them. The tight ball of worry in her chest loosened. She felt like she could breathe a little easier.

Then her parents returned. She sobered up quickly, afraid that they were coming to bear bad news. They had their poker faces on, so it was hard to tell.

"Adrien," Sabine said, as she and Tom stopped next to the counter. The boy looked over at them as Sabine continued, "We called your house."

Marinette's eyes flickered over to Adrien, who tensed. Her own heart started racing again.

"Is she…is Nathalie coming to get me?" Adrien finally asked sounding crestfallen.

"We convinced her to let you stay the night," Sabine said. "That is if you want to. It's your decision."

Adrien took in a quick breath, his body relaxing slightly.

"You'd…you'd let me stay?" he asked uncertainly.

"Of course," Tom said with a reassuring smile.

"Then I'd…I'd like to stay," Adrien confirmed, his eyes flickering to Marinette briefly before going back to her parents.

Tom nodded as Sabine said, "Nathalie will be coming over to deliver an overnight bag, then, all right?"

Adrien nodded, his eyes shifting the counter, before he turned to face Marinette again. Only, he kept his gaze down. Marinette looked at her parents with a distressed expression. Sabine mouthed, "It's okay."

Marinette wasn't quite convinced, but she nodded and looked back at Adrien. She started hesitantly telling him another story, a trip they'd taken to Barcelona. Talking became easier again as she continued with the story. Both the teens relaxed.

When there was a knock at the door, they both jumped and stiffened. Marinette expected one of her parents to get it, but they either hadn't heard it or had gotten caught up with something else. The second knock came and Marinette threw a wary glance at Adrien.

"I'll…I'll be right back," she told him softly, reluctantly pulling her hand from his and slipping off her stool. She was half-way to the door when her mom appeared, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Sweetie, why don't you take Adrien up to your room," Sabine suggested.

Tom had appeared. He stood in front of the door much like Adrien's bodyguard, the Gorilla (Marinette was amused to find out).

"We'll come get you when we've got his overnight bag, all right?" her papa said with just as much gentleness as Sabine.

Marinette looked back and forth between her parents, puzzled. They were acting kind of…strange.

"Is everything all right? Why do you want me to take him up to my room?" she asked.

Sabine gave her daughter's shoulder a gentle squeeze and smiled reassuringly when Marinette looked at her mom.

"We'll explain everything," she promised just as there was another, louder knock. "But right now, we shouldn't keep Nathalie waiting. Will you take Adrien upstairs?"

"Um…okay," Marinette finally acquiesced. Sabine slid her hand off her daughter's shoulder and the girl turned to go get Adrien from the kitchen. She took his hand and said, "Why don't we go up to my room for a bit?"

Adrien nodded and slid off his stool. Marinette kept his hand in hers as she led him upstairs to her room, throwing one last confused glance at her parents before pushing her door open.

After they'd entered her room and she'd closed the door, Marinette want to turn on few lamps scattered about her room. Adrien sat down on the floor, and though he'd been in her room before, he was looking around, like he was seeing it for the first time.

"I like the lights," he commented, looking at Marinette as she sat down next to him. They both automatically started reaching for the other's hand. "They're nice and warm. Like a sunset. Or like you."

Adrien's thumb stroked the back of Marinette's hand as her heart started pounding in her chest for a completely different reason than worry.

"Um, thanks," she managed.

"Will you tell me more about your family?" Adrien asked, looking at Marinette hopefully.

"Of course." She started off about another family outing, this time her first time visiting the Trocadéro, why it'd become her Secret Garden of Inspiration.

She was just finishing up when sudden yelling broke out from downstairs. Marinette and Adrien jumped, looking over at her door. They waited, and listened. No more yelling came.

Marinette glanced back at Adrien.

"I'm going to go check that out," she said quietly. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Adrien nodded and Marinette stood, creeping over to her door and opening it slowly, silently, before slipping down a few steps and closing it just as quiet as she'd opened it. From here, she could hear all the voices clearly.

"For the last time, you aren't welcome in our home." That was her papa's voice. She felt a jolt run through her at her words. Had Nathalie tried to force her way in? Was that what all the yelling had been about?

"I'm not opposed to calling the police if you don't let me see Adrien." That was definitely Nathalie. Though the woman didn't talk much around Marinette, she'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Marinette's breath caught at the mention of the police. What was Nathalie thinking? Hadn't she come by just to drop off some of Adrien's things? Why did she have to start a scene?

"Fine, call them," Tom said. Marinette had to put a hand to her mouth to keep herself from gasping out loud. Her papa continued, "See how they react when he tells them that he came here of his own free will."

"And that we have done nothing to keep him here against his will," Sabine added, in the sternest voice Marinette had ever heard her mom use before. Sabine continued, in a more disappointed tone this time, "Honestly, what kind of parent doesn't even take the time to look at their own child's grades?"

Another jolt ran through Marinette. Had they been listening to her and Adrien's conversation?

"Mr. Agreste is a very busy man—" Nathalie started.

"Too busy to come to Parents' Day at the school? The Mayor of Paris even attended," Tom objected.

"Mr. Dupain, if you're suggesting—" Nathalie tried.

"I'm not suggesting anything. All I'm saying is if the Mayor of Paris can make time for his daughter, Mr. Agreste can certainly make time for his son."

Nathalie started to say something else, but beside Marinette's ear a voice whispered, "Marinette, is everything all right—?"

Marinette choked back a yelp of surprise before looking up, over her shoulder to see Adrien, peeking through the partially opened door. She glanced down the stairs before swiftly making her way back up the steps and into her room again, forcing Adrien to back into her room.

She started to gently lay the door down again as she was saying, "I didn't mean to worry you—" but Nathalie's voice interrupted hers, shooting up the stairs and through the small sliver of the still-open door.

"Adrien!" she called.

Marinette froze. So did the body in question.

"Please, let's just talk about this," Nathalie called again. Marinette unfroze and quickly dropped the door closed so they wouldn't be able to hear anything else that woman had to say, not caring if it alerted her parents that she'd been eavesdropping, and straightened up, spinning around to face Adrien just as he came up to the door, already reaching for the handle.

Marinette's hand shot out, grabbing his wrist. She stepped back, out onto the door to prevent him from opening it as Adrien straightened up, keeping her grasp on his wrist.

"You don't have to go," she told him quietly.

Adrien looked away, closing his eyes like he was resigned to his fate—looking utterly defeated.

"I should," he said just as soft.

Marinette tightened her grip on his wrist, causing him to look at her. "No one is making you." Her voice raised slightly, her eyebrows furrowing, her lips curving into a deep frown. Adrien decided he really didn't like it when she frowned. He wanted to see her smile.

"You don't have to close up," she said, in a softer tone. "I'm here for you. My mom and papa are here for you. You don't have to put up an act around me anymore." Her voice wavered on those last words as she felt a rush of emotions for this boy wash over her. All she wanted to do was take away all the pain he had inside of him and replace it with the warmth and love he wanted and so desperately needed, but she couldn't do that if he didn't let her in.

Adrien's hands fisted and he squeezed his eyes shut. His jaw was taught, but his lower lip quivered.

Marinette pulled him into a tight hug and closed her eyes, too.

"Stay," she requested, her voice thick.

* * *

Marinette didn't feel like going out on patrols tonight, but it was her obligation, her duty as Ladybug. She was already at least an hour and a half late, anyway. She'd probably never hear the end of it from Chat.

The girl looked down at her door. After her parents had gotten the overnight bag from Nathalie and she'd left (without calling the police, thankfully), they'd come up to Marinette's room, then bid the two goodnight. Marinette showed Adrien where their spare bedroom was and where the bathroom was before reluctantly saying goodnight. She wasn't sure what place Adrien was in right now and, honestly, she was hesitant to leave him alone for any extended period of time.

Adrien had told her that he was all right, but she was still unsure. He'd looked…fragile.

"It'll be okay, Marinette," Tikki assured softly, floating up next to her ward. Marinette's eyes flickered to her kwami, meeting those big, reassuring eyes. Throwing one last look at the door up to her room, and biting the inside of her lip, she turned back to Tikki. "You're right. Tikki, spots on."

Still feeling a bit hesitant, Ladybug glanced back over her shoulder as she pulled herself up onto the roof and closed the skylight. Taking another deep breath, she threw her yo-yo at a nearby building and swung away.

She met Chat Noir at the Eiffel Tower. They said their greetings (to her pleasant surprise he didn't comment about her being late) and then got to patrols. It wasn't until later in the night that she realized something. Except for their greeting, Chat Noir hadn't said a single word. It was unusual for him. He was usually talking non-stop, making puns, telling jokes (and flirting, but that'd stopped what felt like ages ago).

They'd circled back to the Eiffel Tower, sitting on it, near the middle, watching over the city of Paris.

Was the tension real or was it just Ladybug's imagination?

She glanced over at Chat, trying to think of something to say. Maybe she should ask him what was wrong? Sometimes they talked, they never got too personal or specific, because they had to keep their identities, but they did talk.

Ladybug took a deep breath.

"Hey, are you okay?" they chorused, looking at each other at the exact same time.

"You first," they said in unison again.

Chat gestured to her, telling her that he wanted her to go first. Ladybug looked away, down, at the rooftops of Paris. "I'm just worried about a friend, that's all. I've never seen him this upset before." She looked back at Chat. "What's your story?"

It was Chat's turn to look away and shrug, shake his head. "Just a rough day. I'm…feeling a little better. My friend…she's—well, she's helping me through it." An uncomfortable silence settled between them as they looked anywhere but at each other.

When they couldn't stand it anymore, they looked back at each other and started simultaneously, "I hope—"

They broke off and laughed nervously, a little awkwardly.

"I hope you feel better," Ladybug said quickly before Chat could speak.

"Thank you," he mumbled. "And I hope your friend feels better."

Ladybug smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

Marinette had just landed on her bed, and de-transformed, when there was a knock on her door. Her heart shot into her throat. Was it Adrien? Was he okay? The exhaustion she'd felt as she returned evaporated as she climbed down from her loft and went to open the door. In fact, it was Adrien, wrapped in the blanket they'd lent him for tonight. He was looking up at her searchingly.

"I-I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I…couldn't sleep. I was wondering…well…" He trailed off, looking away. His eyebrows furrowed and he closed his eyes for a second. "I just…I don't want to be alone right now." His voice wavered and Marinette's heart stuttered in her chest.

She held out her hand with a soft smile. "Come on." Adrien looked up at her with those stunning green eyes. His own breathing seemed uneven.

Gratitude rushed through Adrien, stealing his breath. Or maybe it was the way Marinette was smiling at him right at that moment. It was sweet like honey, warm like Sabine's delicious hot chocolate, and beautiful like the sunset. How had he never noticed how _beautiful_ she was before?

Realizing she was holding out her hand, he blinked rapidly, forcibly pushing away his thoughts so he could tell his body to take her hand. Like it had the last few times, little electrical zings shot up his arm and dissipated throughout his body when their skin made contact.

Marinette stepped back as Adrien entered her room and closed the door. Without hesitating, she pulled him toward the small staircase that led up to her loft. Adrien's breath caught when he realized where she was taking him, but he bit back any words that might've made it out of his mouth because at this point, they would've been incoherent.

A tiny part of him hated how nervous Marinette made him, if he was being completely honest. He wasn't used to someone being able to break through the act he'd worked so hard to construct, all the hours he put into practicing it. It'd been drilled into him that he had an image to upkeep as the son of Gabriel Agreste.

Another part of him was elated. His rapidly blooming relationship with, and love for, Marinette was exhilarating. She was like the spring wind blowing away the cold, biting air of winter. He felt like he could breathe easier. Colors seemed more vivid. The world seemed brighter, warmer.

The last part of him was happy that he'd found such a great friend in the girl before him.

"You don't mind, do you?" Marinette asked when they'd made it to the top of her loft. She bit her lip, realizing she probably should've asked before taking him up.

Adrien had vague memories of curling up next to his mom after he'd had a bad dream, or when she read him a bedtime story, or when he was sick and couldn't go to school that day. He missed that warmth, that comfort, that contact.

Afraid his words might not come out the way he wanted, he merely shook his head.

Marinette squeezed his hand before letting go and climbing onto the bed. Adrien followed more hesitantly, despite her having invited him up here. Even then, when he laid down beside her, he left a good inch between them. That was until Marinette reached over and took his hand again, also pulling him arm, signaling that it was fine for him to lay closer. Swallowing hard, he shifted so now he could feel the heat coming off her, he could hear her breathing. Their arms and shoulders brushed.

Then she started speaking again, about her family. Her voice, when not nervous was quite soothing. When she talked about her family, she sounded so happy. And her happiness filled him with warmth, which in turn made him happy. At the very least, it made him feel better, considering what'd happened today.

He honestly hadn't meant get so upset over something so trivial. But his father hadn't let him have a party for his birthday, and he hadn't shown up for Parents' Day, even after Adrien had given him an advanced notice, and now he didn't even have time to look at his grades. Adrien had worked so hard to get as perfect marks as he could, to please his father, and his father hadn't commented at all.

So maybe he hadn't been reacting about _just_ his grades. It had been a multitude of things, building and adding up, pushing down on him, crushing him until he just couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't be "perfect" _all the time_.

Marinette kept talking, forcing her eyes to stay open for as long as possible. All that was on her mind was comforting Adrien. She just wanted him to feel better. She didn't want him to feel lonely. She also had to consciously make an effort not to look at the clock. Not that it really mattered, tomorrow was the weekend, after all.

She was in the middle of her sentence—about what, she wasn't precisely sure—when she felt pressure on her shoulder and a warm breath ghost across her neck. She stopped talking and carefully moved her head she could look down at her shoulder. What she saw was a head of blond hair. The sudden urge to run her free hand through those golden locks hit her like a ton of bricks, but she bit her tongue and fought it off. She figured now wasn't exactly the time.

Marinette turned her head so she could look out the skylight. The clouds had cleared up and now she could see the small winking of a few stars here and there. Letting the exhaustion take over, she let her eyes slide closed, a small smile gracing her lips.

* * *

 **Wow, so another whopping ten-page chapter for ya'll. Hope it did that cliff-hanger justice.**

 **I'm getting excited because guess what's coming up soon?**

 **I wasn't sure if you can even see one star in Paris, considering how big of city it is, but I figured I throw 'em in there (because I like stars dammit!) because I thought it really added to the atmosphere.**

 **Okay, can I just say I cringed the whole time I was writing that scene between Ladybug and Chat Noir. Like...they're talking about each other! *screaming* It was infuriating to say the least. I mean, I love their partnership/relationship, don't get me wrong, but having them talk about each other in this context was maddening. (My two idiot-dorks.)**

 **Anyway, as always I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	6. Six

**Sorry for the wait, been a hectic two weeks since the last chapter. I want to say I got in over my head, but that's not true. More like I needed to focus on school and the play that I didn't have time for anything else. And then I got the dreaded writer's block. So here it finally is, like two-and-a-half weeks later.**

 **As always, big thank you to legend-of-sora.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Like a Person

Marinette almost forgot what'd happened last night, but as she started to wake up more and more, she realized she wasn't lying on her bed, she was lying on someone's chest. She could hear their steady, slow heartbeat. There was also something warm around her waist. One of her hands was loosely holding another's.

Then it all came rushing back—Adrien! Well, she remembered first seeing him, taking him in and talking with him periodically throughout the night. Going on patrols. And coming back to find Adrien at the door to her room. She remembered inviting him up to her bed and then…oh! They'd fallen asleep—

Marinette stiffened when her brain finally put the pieces together. Was she lying on…?

Slowly, carefully, she shifted and lifted her head slightly to be able to look up. Confirming her suspicions, it was Adrien she saw, fast asleep. Somehow, during the night, they'd shifted—she was lying on _his_ chest, it was _his_ hand that hers was entwined with, and it was _his_ other free arm that was currently around her waist.

She bit her tongue on a panicked squeak, her eyes going wide as she froze. Despite this, her face was burning. Her heart started to pound so loudly she was almost afraid the noise was going to wake Adrien up.

Marinette shifted again, thinking maybe she could slip out of his grasp without waking him, only as soon as she started moving, Adrien shifted as well. Marinette halted again, hoping she hadn't woken him up. She held her breath and waited, watching Adrien's face for any sign that he was awake.

Good news, she hadn't woken him, Adrien stopped moving. Bad news, he'd tightened his arm around her waist. She definitely wasn't going to be going anywhere now. Not really sure _what_ to do, she laid her head back on his chest, her eyes straying around the ceiling of the room while she listened to his steady heartbeat. Eventually, with such a rhythmic, comforting sound, her eyes slid closed again.

Plagg flew over to Tikki, who was sitting on the railing around Marinette's loft. He settled down next to her as she glanced back at their sleeping wards.

"Do you think they'll ever figure it out?" she asked, looking over at Plagg.

He glanced back at them quickly before turning back to Tikki. "No, they're idiots."

Tikki tried not to gasp too loudly. "That's mean!"

Plagg didn't look perturbed at all as he shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Call 'em as I see 'em."

It was Tikki's turn to roll her eyes. She looked back at the two again for a long moment. "Well, they're our idiots."

Plagg snickered just as Adrien started to stir.

Both kwamis zipped out of sight. Despite agreeing that their charges were idiots—in a loving way, of course—they respected the fact that they'd made the decision not to reveal their secret identities to each other.

Adrien's first thoughts were confused and edging on alarmed. He didn't recognize this room. He couldn't remember what'd happened last night. His heart rate shot up like a firework, his mind exploding into full-blown panic-mode. Because of this, he sat up abruptly, trying to gather his bearings, which jostled Marinette quite violently, waking her up as well

"What?" Marinette asked, catching herself so she wouldn't fall off the bed and sitting up, looking around. "What's wrong? Is it an akuma?" Marinette paused there, realizing how close she'd come to revealing her secret and looked at Adrien, who was breathing hard, his eyes darting around the room. "Adrien?" she asked carefully, moving closer to him and taking his hand. His green eyes snapped toward her.

As soon as his eyes met those gorgeous blue ones, everything came rushing back to him. He remembered getting his grades back, waiting for his father to say something, and when he hadn't, deciding to run off—as Adrien—to Marinette.

The girl in front of him squeezed his hand, bringing the blond back to the present. Her hair was down, something he'd only seen once before when they were doing that photoshoot for their history project, framing her face, making her eyes stand out even more. It wasn't helping that the sun coming in through the skylight hit the back of her head, causing some kind of literal halo effect.

Adrien's heart had just settled down, only to start pounding again. The longer he looked, the more his brain fogged up. Marinette was _beautiful_.

Marinette squeezed the boy's hand again, growing more concerned with the prolonged silence.

"Adrien," she said softly. "Are you okay?"

That was a good question. Was he? In all honesty, he wasn't sure _what_ to feel. Some part of him was relieved that he'd opened up and that it was with Marinette. The other part of him was terrified that he'd broken down, his walls he'd worked so hard to construct and keep up after his mom's disappearance had crumbled down around him—nothing left but rubble. It wasn't just that, either, _he'd_ fallen apart, not just his walls. And now, after all that, was the painstaking task of putting himself back together.

But, looking at Marinette, he realized he might not have to do it all by himself this time. Not like when he lost his mom.

"I'm okay," Adrien finally answered with a smile that stopped Marinette's heart. Without warning, he pulled Marinette into his lap and wrapped his arm around her waist, which caused the girl to yelp and flail, not expecting him to do that. And even though her heart was still racing and her face was burning, she managed to calm her brain down enough that her body stopped flailing.

Adrien's own heart pounded strangely slow in his chest, beating against his ribcage painfully. He was trying to work up the courage to say something, break the silence was starting to stretch on and on. The longer it lasted, the harder Adrien's heart pounded, which really wasn't helping his nerves.

Swallowing hard, he blurted, "Thank you." before he lost his nerve, but with the silence finally broken, the rest came much easier. He looked down at Marinette as she looked up at him. "Thank you for being there for me. I…I really appreciate it."

Marinette's eyes widened and she blinked rapidly, looking around her room, blood rushing up to her face with a vengeance—and just after she'd managed to cool down, too!

"Well, you know, it was…I mean, I'm glad you came to me. I-I mean my family. I…I don't know that I did much. I mean, I feel like all I did was talk your ear off, but I hope you're feeling better this morning. And I just want you to remember if you're ever feeling down you can talk to me about it. You don't even have to feel down, either. If you just want to talk, I'll be here for you to do that." Marinette stopped abruptly, realizing she was babbling. Taking a deep breath and trying to calm her whirling thoughts, she looked up at Adrien and smiled. "I'm just happy that I was able to be there for you."

Adrien reached up slowly with his free hand, stroking his thumb gently under Marinette's eye before caressing her cheek. Marinette's breath caught and she froze again, not even breathing. Adrien met her eyes for a moment longer before his eyes slid closed and he started to lean toward the girl.

On the inside, Marinette was screaming. Her brain was malfunctioning, her heart was speeding like a cheetah. But her body was paralyzed. She felt like she couldn't move at all. Not that she wanted to, really. How many times had she dreamed of kissing Adrien? Now that they were friends, now that she saw him as a person, it made this moment that much more special to her. He'd felt comfortable enough to bear his heart to her, and she was grateful for that.

Now was he…was he doing what she thought he was doing?

When their lips brushed, a thrill went through Marinette, sending an electric tingling sensation throughout her whole body and she practically melted. She closed her eyes and leaned forward to deepen the kiss, but before it could even get to that, she heard the door to her room open.

With a surprised and terrified squeak, she practically flew away from Adrien to the opposite side of the bed. Her face was burning, her wide blue eyes on her parents, who were standing on the top steps up to her room. Tom had an arm around Sabine. They were looking at her a little confused. Had they not seen that almost kiss? Marinette wasn't sure if she was relieved or not. Her reaction and look on her face alone was a dead giveaway. So, either way, it seemed they'd know what had just been about to happen.

Adrien, having mastered controlling his emotions and hiding them, didn't look perturbed at all as he looked at Marinette's parents. In fact, he looked…worried.

"We just wanted to check on you," Tom finally said.

"Also, Adrien," Sabine said gently, looking at the boy. "Nathalie called. She said she's going to come pick you up soon. You have a photoshoot later today that she'd like you to be prepared for. I'm sorry, dear."

Adrien gave a nervous laugh. "No, that's okay. I understand. I should…I should go take a shower, then." He slid off the bed and made his way down the stairs of the loft, swiftly making his way to the main staircase with Marinette's worried eyes following him. He had started to pull away again. "Thank you again for letting me stay. I really appreciate it." He told Marinette's parents as they stepped aside to allow him room so he could make his way downstairs.

After Adrien had gone out of Marinette's line of sight, her gaze strayed back to her parents, concern slowly and steadily filling her every pore.

Tom and Sabine both smiled sadly.

"Continue to talk to him," Sabine encouraged. "It'll be okay. This is hard for him."

Marinette bit her lip and nodded. With another sad smile, her parents exited her bedroom. Marinette jumped off her bed and launched herself down the loft's stairs so she'd be dressed and ready to see Adrien off.

Not even realizing how fast she was going, she'd made it downstairs before Adrien even finished his shower. So she waited nervously in the kitchen, holding a glass of orange juice between her hands, but feeling too anxious to eat or drink anything. Her parents had gone downstairs to tend to the bakery.

She simply stared at its orange depths and tried not to let her mind think too long or hard—she was good at jumping to the worst case scenario and now was _not_ the time for that.

When the boy finally appeared in the kitchen, fully dressed, hair still damp, Marinette looked up from her glass and jumped from her chair, leaving the glass. She walked toward him but stalled half-way there, not really sure what she had been planning to do. Her brain was blank, there were no words. All she felt was fretful for Adrien and alarm for approaching him so enthusiastically without having a plan.

Adrien didn't seem to notice—Marinette would soon come to find this trait about him was a life-saver for whenever she acted before her brain could process anything logically. It was also very charming.

Instead he smiled, though it didn't really meet his eyes.

"How do I look?" Adrien asked.

Marinette blanched for a moment, her infatuation side bubbling up as a fallback because it was a part of her that was more familiar. She was about to start gushing and tell him he was gorgeous, as always, but something stopped her and it was in that moment's pause did she realize Adrien had asked the question out of pure sincerity.

In fact, that apprehension he'd shown when Marinette's parents had first told him he had a photoshoot had appeared again.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Adrien blinked and seemed to realize he'd opened up again. With a nervous smile, bringing a hand to rub the back of his head, he said, "Oh, uh…my father tells me that too many emotions will ruin how I look in the photos." He looked away, shoving his hands into his pockets, his shoulders tense.

Marinette wasn't sure what to say, and for a moment all she could do was try not to look at him sadly, because the last thing she wanted to was make him think she pitied him. Which she didn't. It hurt her knowing how horrible his home life was, and she hated she couldn't do anything to fix it.

Then she remembered that she didn't always need to say something. Taking a different route, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him.

Adrien tensed up, and Marinette started to regret her decision, but kept her arms around him anyway. Eventually, Adrien relaxed and wrapped his arms around the girl. Marinette smiled and closed her eyes, unconsciously tightening her arms ever so slightly.

They stood there like that until someone knocked at the door.

Adrien pulled back and sighed. "That's probably Nathalie. I should…grab my things." Keeping his eyes down, he went back to the guest bedroom.

Marinette tried not to sigh too loudly as she watched him go. Her worry returned. She was afraid that it would never go away. Sure she might not feel it all the time, but it would always be there, just under the surface, now that she knew better what Adrien's home life was like. Just thinking about the big, empty house he had to go back to made her heart ache. She'd have to invite him over to dinner more often—like every night. Maybe they could do homework together at her place. Anything to keep him out of that house for as long as possible.

Nathalie knocked again and Marinette went to the door. She took a breath before opening it, trying for a polite smile. Nathalie simply looked coldly back.

"Is Adrien ready to go?" she asked.

"He'll be out in just a minute," Marinette managed. There was a small pause of awkward silence before she stuttered, "Uh, would you like to have a seat while you wait?" she asked, stepping aside and opening the door a little farther. Nathalie glanced inside.

"No, thank you," she said.

Marinette tried not to take it personally, but she was already angry at Mr. Agreste's personal assistant for trying to force her way into her house last night. Marinette knew she was probably being irrational, but it seemed like Nathalie didn't even care about Adrien as a person. All she saw was Gabriel Agreste's son, and her only goal in life was to please her employer, no matter the cost to Adrien emotionally or psychologically.

Mercifully, Adrien appeared a few minutes later, her overnight bag slung over his shoulder.

"Let me take that," Nathalie said, pushing past Marinette and taking the bag from Adrien. "You shouldn't strain yourself before a photoshoot. The car's waiting downstairs. You've got thirty minutes to freshen up when we get back home, then we need to head over to the shoot, all right?" The women exited swiftly, turning to face Adrien in the open doorway.

"Thanks, Nathalie," Adrien said politely, sounding crestfallen, as he walked toward the door.

Marinette felt anger burst in her chest, like a firecracker going off. She turned toward Nathalie, her hands balling into fists, ready to chew out the PA, but Adrien rested a gentle hand on Marinette's shoulder. She looked up at him and he shook his head. Marinette bit her tongue, but glared at Nathalie who was pointedly ignoring the girl.

"We shouldn't keep the driver waiting," Nathalie said like she hadn't seen that quick exchange, before turning heel and heading downstairs.

Adrien quickly exited, turning to face Marinette as he did.

"I guess I'll see you on Monday," he said, slowly walking backward.

"Yeah, sure," Marinette responded, her anger dissipating, her voice shrinking. "See you on Monday."

* * *

"Earth to Marinette!" Alya said, waving her hand in front of her friend's face. Marinette didn't even blink. She was thinking too much about Adrien. She was afraid of calling him over the weekend to see how he was doing because she didn't know how far she could push his comfort zone before he started to feel uncomfortable and end up pulling back more instead of opening up.

Alya rolled her eyes and sighed before doing an impression of Marinette, "Oh, Alya, what is it?" she asked before switching back to herself. "Nothing, I was just wondering if you wanted to compare our Physics homework answers—"

Marinette gasped, putting both hands to her head, making a face of sheer horror. "Oh no!" she choked before turning to Alya, grabbing her shoulders, and shaking her friend. "Please tell me you're joking! We didn't really have Physics homework did we? This is not funny!"

Alya looked back at her friend and shook her head, a half-smile making its way onto her face.

"You're hopeless, Marinette," she commented as Marinette let out a sob, dropping her head onto Alya's chest, still keeping her hands on her friend's shoulders. Alya chuckled and patted Marinette's head. "There, there, you can always make it up."

Marinette pulled back, taking a deep breath and letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm such a space case." _Some superheroine I am. I can't even balance my two lives!_ She thought silently, her mouth turning down into a fierce frown.

Alya threw her arm around Marinette's shoulders, noticing Marinette's sudden change of emotion. "Hey, don't look so blue. It wasn't worth a lot of points, anyway. You'll just have to make sure you're on top of the rest of the homework." When Marinette didn't respond, Alya looked around for a distraction, to try and cheer her up again.

Perfect timing: Adrien's car had just pulled up to the curb.

"And you know, if you ever need help, I know _someone_ who's extremely good at Physics," Alya sang, putting her free hand under Marinette's chin and raising her gaze just as Adrien stepped out of his car.

Marinette's heart soared when she saw the boy, the tight knot of worry in her chest loosening enough that she felt she could breathe easier. He looked okay. But she knew that he was good at acting. Still, he was here, and if he needed, she would be there for him.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Alya commented, pulling away and putting her hands on her hips as Nino greeted Adrien. "You didn't blush or squeak."

"Alya, I've told you he came to our house for dinner almost every night during the project," Marinette said before jokingly turning away from her friend and crossing her arms. "You should have more faith in me."

"Says the girl who forgot we have Physics homework over the weekend," Alay shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"Ugh," Marinette groaned, dropping her head. "Don't remind me."

Alya simply laughed and threw her arm around her friend again.

"Marinette!" Adrien called, causing both girls to look up as Adrien came over with Nino as his side.

Marinette smiled. Despite having learned how to converse with him without embarrassing herself, her crush was still going strong. Her heart sped up and she felt unreasonably and suddenly nervous.

"Hey, Adrien," she greeted.

"So, um, I…I have something I want to give you," Adrien began after a small moment of silence. Marinette tried not a giggle as she watched him fumble through his bag. It was just she really thought seeing Adrien flustered and nervous was adorable and endearing. Alya poked Marinette to get her attention before raising an eyebrow and smiling suggestively. Marinette shoved her friend, blushing furiously nonetheless. Nino was looking at the two girls questioningly.

Adrien finally managed to pull out a small box—nothing special, a light pink color with no wrapping or bow. With shaking hands, Marinette took the box and opened it. At first, all she could see was ribbon sitting in some tissue paper. Swallowing hard, she put the lid onto the bottom of the box to free her hand and reached in, pulling out the ribbon.

It was a choker made of soft, velvet, red ribbon. It was tied into a bow, and sitting where the knot of the bow was, was a small yin and yang symbol.

"It's just…a little something," Adrien started. Marinette looked up to see him shrug and look at the ground. "A…a thank you, for—" He broke off and glanced at Alya and Nino. "Well, you know."

All the dark-haired girl could do for a long moment was stare, dumbfounded.

 _How sweet of him!_ she thought, but couldn't voice. Her vocal chords were failing her.

Finally, Alya, the great friend she was, elbowed Marinette in the ribs, breaking the girl from her trance.

Unfortunately, she had no idea where the words she said even came from, "You didn't have to…I mean, it's beautiful! But you didn't have to buy me anything. It was my pleasure—"

"Oh, I—I didn't…well, I didn't buy it," Adrien interrupted, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smile. "I made it. I mean, I bought the materials, but…I put it together with what you taught me, you know, when we were working on that history project?"

Marinette froze again at that information. This time she couldn't find the words. There were no words for how wonderful and warm she felt. He'd made something for her? As a thank you? She wondered how long he'd spent making it since, as far as she knew, he wasn't really into the arts and crafts. His father did have a jewelry line, but surely he just did the designing, not the actually crafting.

Either way, it was absolutely heartwarming.

Marinette tried to say something, but when nothing came out, she simply threw her arms around Adrien in a tight hug, much to Alya and Nino's surprise. Obviously, Alya and Nino's best buds had talked about their growing relationship, but they hadn't realized that it had come to hugging territory. And in public, no less!

"I love it," Marinette told the blond as she pulled back and quickly put the box into her purse so she could free her hands and put the choker on.

Adrien made a disappointed tsk noise just as Marinette was clasping it. He reached up and lifted the charm on the necklace with two of his fingers, looking at it disappointed, his eyebrows furrowed, the corners of his mouth turning down.

"It's not centered," he said.

Trying to ignore the fact that his fingers were brushing against her bare skin, Marinette swallowed hard and took his hand, pulling it away from the charm.

"I think it's cuter that way," she told him with a reassuring smile.

The boy blinked, his eyebrows raising in surprise before furrowing slightly again. "Really?"

Marinette nodded, giving his hand a squeeze. "Really."

A smile spread across Adrien's face, slowly. It reminded Marinette if a sunrise, making her heart stutter unhealthily in her chest.

"All right you two lovebirds," Alya said, breaking the two from their bubble. "It's time to get to class." She threw her arm around Marinette's shoulders once again and started to lead her friend away, forcing Marinette to drop Adrien's hand, giving Nino a look over her shoulder as they went.

Nino shrugged before turning to his friend. "Dude," he said, holding up his fist. Adrien smiled abashedly, but bumped his fist with Nino's. "You have to teach me how to make something like that." Nino said as they headed up the stairs.

Adrien laughed, feeling less embarrassed. "Sure, Nino."

* * *

Chloé had not been blind to what was going on between Marinette and Adrien. Whatever _that_ was. But there was absolutely no way that Adrien was falling for that girl. Just no way. How unfair that they'd been paired together for that stupid history project. _She_ should've been the one working with Adrien and not Ivan. Of course, Sabrina had done all her work, but still. Ivan had insisted on meeting to talk about the project. It was horrible, a travesty!

Now this! If they'd grown close enough that Adrien felt comfortable giving Marinette something, it was time for Chloé to intervene. The only reason she hadn't until this point was because she honestly thought their relationship wasn't going to get anywhere.

The bell had just rung, signaling lunch. Chloé waited patiently, watching as Adrien packed up his things and quickly headed off. Marinette was packing up more slowly, chatting with her friend.

Before Marinette could leave, Chloé stood and went up to the girl at her desk, boxing the girl in between herself and Alya, not giving Marinette an option to leave. Sabrina had followed, like the faithful friend she was, to stand by Chloé's side. The other kids, milling around in the class, had one ear on what was about to go down, knowing Marinette and Chloé's history.

"Oh, Marinette," she said, putting a hand on her hip.

The girl paused a moment, making a less than pleasant face before making it as neutral as possible and turning toward Chloé.

"What do you want?" Marinette asked. "I don't have a lot of time, I have to get home."

"Well so do I, so I'll make this quick for both of us," Chloé said. "Adrien is mine."

Marinette stared back at the girl in front of her. She understood perfectly what Chloé meant, but at the same time…

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed. "You're what?" she asked.

Chloé blinked, not expecting that. "What?" she asked as the kids still in the room started to gather around the two. Also, unbeknownst to them, Adrien had returned, having forgotten something in the classroom. He was about to ask what was going on seeing the congregating students, but Marinette started talking again, causing the boy to falter.

"He's you're what?" Marinette asked.

Chloé laughed, trying to get the ball back into her court. "Listen to yourself, Marinette, you're not making any sense." Sabrina joined in to try to get the others to too, but when Marinette didn't blink an eyelash and continued to stare at Chloé with a completely straight face, the laughter died down.

"Tell me, Chloé," Marinette continued. "Adrien is your what?" Your boyfriend? Your best friend? Your lover—"

"Excuse you!" Chloé gasped. "How dare you suggest something like that?"

Marinette continued, talking over Chloé. "Your what?" She crossed her arms. "Because the last time I checked Adrien wasn't an object. You can't _own_ people."

"How dare you put words into my mouth? I never said that!" Chloé snapped, raising her voice, her hands balling into fists.

"You certainly implied it," Marinette shot back.

Chloé fumed quietly, trying to think of something to retaliate with. The crowd that'd gathered was staring at her, burning holes throughout her whole body. They were expecting her to retort with something. She _had_ to or she'd be the laughing stock, an embarrassment! She'd started this, she had to have the last laugh.

"I could give him so much more than you ever could," she finally responded, crossing her arms and cocking a hip. "I would treat him how he _should_ be treated."

"Oh? And how's that?" Marinette asked through gritted teeth, angry that Chloé was implying that Marinette was some poor, pauper-like character. But she wasn't going to let it get to her, she was _not_ willing to move from her stance on this. Not after everything that'd happened between her and Adrien. She was done putting him on a pedestal, treating him like this untouchable god. Adrien was a person, just like anyone else, just like any one of her classmates.

"Like a prince, of course," Chloé answered like it was obvious. "Why? How do _you_ think he should be treated?"

"Like a _person_."

With that, Marinette shoved past Chloé, a snickering Alya following quickly behind, ignoring the stares from the rest of her classmates.

"Girl, that was amazing!" Alya complimented as they made their way down the steps, only to come to a halt when Marinette noticed Adrien. He was still standing where he'd stopped upon first entering the room, having completely forgotten what he'd even come back for. Now he was looking at Marinette with an expression she couldn't quite read.

Marinette, meanwhile, was mortified. Despite not being able to read his emotions, she knew, at the very least, from the expression on his face that he'd heard most of her conversation with Chloé.

"Marinette," Adrien started, taking a step toward her, only to have the girl veer away and around him.

"Um, I have to…because…so, yeah," she stuttered punctuating her incomplete sentence with a nervous laugh, maneuvering her way around the blond, down the rest of the steps, and towards the door. "So I'll see you later, bye!" Without another word, she turned and fled, her heart pounding, hands shaking. She couldn't believe that he'd heard that!

Adrien looked at the empty doorway in disappointment before turning to Alya, hoping for some kind of explanation. The budding journalist merely shrugged and gave him a helpless expression before shaking her head with a half-smile at her friend's antics.

Adrien looked back at the door bewildered before remembering he had a piano practice he needed to get to. Not actually achieving his goal of getting what he'd forgotten, the boy sprinted out of the room and down to his waiting car.

* * *

 **So, um…not my best. Kind of uneventful (or, at least, I feel it is). I had a lot planned—probably too much to fit in this chapter considering we're on the ninth page in a Word Doc currently. Also, I was going back and forth on this whole "like a person" sequence. I didn't quite know how to broach it and deliver it the way I wanted, but decided to include it because it seemed important to the development of their relationship. Mostly on Adrien's part, because I'm sure he's experienced people pretending to be his friend because of who he is and who his father is.**

 **Anyway, credit where it's due, I got the sequence for "like a person" from Roger's and Hammerstein's 1997 movie** _ **Cinderella**_ **. There's a scene in the beginning when Cinderella meets the prince (not knowing it's the prince) and she makes a comment about how she doubts this person knows how a girl should be treated. His response is, "Well, like a princess, I suppose." and she responds with, "No, like a person." And I** _ **love**_ **that exchange. (If that isn't enough of a reason for you to go watch it, then the fact that they have an amazing, fantastic diverse cast should be.) So, I thought I'd adapt it and use it here, because it works both ways, and I think the concept applies to Adrien well.**

 **Sorry again for the agonizing wait only to be delivered a kind of filler chapter. Apparently what I thought was getting close isn't actually as close as I thought it was…? (Story of my writing life.) But I hope you enjoyed anyway. It's cute, it's fluffy, and it's got more relationship building, so, not too shabby, I suppose.**

 **To Woo D: I'm so glad! I'm also glad you like how I'm developing their relationship! Haha, well, speak of the devil ;) I hope you weren't too underwhelmed by this chapter, then—I just feel it's not my best.**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	7. Seven

**As always, a huge thank you to legend-of-sora!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Who Doesn't?

Marinette walked back to the school, shoulders tense, heart pounding. Her eyes darted around, looking for a specific blond-haired, green-eyed boy that might show up at any minute. She knew he would confront her about what'd happened. He'd tried to before lunch, but she'd run off like her usual panicked self. Thinking about it now, she was mortified she'd run off when it was clear Adrien had wanted to talk to her.

Now she wasn't sure how to explain what had happened. She wasn't sure what Adrien wanted to know or talk about, or how she would react. Probably not well, knowing her track record.

She made it into the classroom without a hitch. Some of her classmates were already there, sitting in their seats, staring off into space, reading a book, drawing. Some of them looked up when Marinette entered, but no one said anything about what she'd said to Chloé. Though Rose did smile a bit wider and Nathanaël gave Marinette a thumbs up with a shy smile before going back to his drawings.

Chloé hadn't come back from lunch yet, neither had Alya. Letting out a small breath, Marinette made her way to her desk and sat down, pulling out her tablet. She opened up a work-in-progress dress design that was a part of her final project in her fashion design class. Designing clothes always helped her calm down and take her mind off of things. It was very soothing.

For the most part.

Her brain was still subconsciously focused on her main worry, because when Alya did arrive and put a hand on her friend's shoulder, Marinette hit the ceiling and let out a yelp of surprise. Her pen flew out of her hand and went flying to the front of the classroom. Alya was shaking her head with a half-smile.

"I don't think I've _ever_ seen you so jumpy," Alya commented, sitting down and getting her things out of her backpack. "You should be the complete opposite. What you said to Chloé? That was amazing, girl!"

Marinette stared at her pen, knowing she'd have to go pick it up but not wanting too quite yet. At Alya's comment, however, she groaned and hung her head.

"But _Adrien_ heard the whole thing!" she lamented.

Alya laughed. "I don't see how that's a problem at all. If I were him, I would be quite impressed."

Marinette lifted her head and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "For standing up to Chloé? It's really not such a big deal. I've embarrassed her in front of Mr. Agreste, this was nothing."

Alya snickered, sitting down. "That may be true, but that's not what I was thinking about. You reminded Chloé that she shouldn't be treating Adrien the way she has been. Let's face it, nearly every girl our age in Paris has some sort of crush on Adrien because of who he is and who his father is. You know what you proved with that speech? That you're getting to know him for him, not because he's a model and his father's a famous fashion designer."

Marinette smiled at her friend, comforted by her words. "I wish I were as articulate as you are, Alya."

"It's part of my journalism skills," Alya said with a smirk.

Marinette giggled, pulling her friend into a side hug just as the teacher walked in. Most of the other kids had filtered in when Alya had been talking. Marinette also spotted her pen still lying on the ground near the teacher's desk.

With a sigh, she pulled back and said, "I'd better get that." she said pointing to her pen before sliding from her chair and walking down the steps. She started to lean down, reaching for her pen when her hand collided with another's. Instinctively, she pulled back slightly and looked up to meet a pair of sparkling green eyes.

Her spine went ramrod straight and she exclaimed, "Adrien!"

Adrien quickly snatched up Marinette's pen and held it out for her to take with a smile. It was such a sweet smile, too, her heart stuttered and she felt like she was melting. For a long moment, she forgot he was holding her pen out for her to take, but when she did she quickly grabbed it, mumbling a "thank you."

Her face was warming up, but this was one instance she was grateful Adrien wasn't all that observant. (It didn't seem fair that he had such an effect on her like that, but as far as she could tell, she didn't have the same effect on _him_.)

"Do you think we could talk after school really quick?" Adrien asked quietly.

Marinette forced her face to keep its smile as her mind screamed _NO!_

"Sure," she said as upbeat as possible.

"All right, class, let's get started," Miss Bustier said. With one last smile to Marinette, Adrien took his seat. Marinette followed suit, her heart still fluttering like one of the many de-evilized butterflies in her chest.

By the end of the day, Marinette was a nervous wreck. Not that she usually _wasn't_ when it came to Adrien, but that was beside the point. Her heart hadn't settled down at all during the day, which probably wasn't healthy.

Because of her nerves, Marinette managed to pack up and make it out of the classroom faster than everyone else in the classroom. So she waited at the bottom of the main steps into the building and a little off to the side with Alya, who'd been hot on her heels.

"So, Physics homework," Alya said. "Don't forget."

"Har, har, har," Marinette responded sarcastically. "I wrote it down, I've got it."

There was a small pause.

"So, I'll text you tonight to remind you?" Alya said casually, throwing her arm across Marinette's shoulders.

"Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea," Marinette mumbled, smiling sheepishly at her friend.

Alya laughed and Marinette joined in just as Adrien and Nino exited. As they headed toward the two girls, Marinette immediately stopped laughing and straightened up. Alya sighed and shook her head, but with a smile. She was never bored when Marinette was around.

What was even funnier, though, Alya realized, after Marinette and Adrien had started working together on that history project, was how nervous _Adrien_ had become around Marinette. They were both so nervous around each other, neither of them seemed to notice. It was one of those things where it was so painfully obvious that they liked each other, and _everyone_ knew it—everyone but the two themselves.

"Uh, so, um," Adrien started. Alya and Nino exchanged a look. "I just…well, I just wanted to say thank you. Again. For…well, for what you said to Chloé. I mean, that sounds…bad, but—" Adrien broke off and shook his head, unable to finish.

"Oh, well…you know, it was…it wasn't a problem," Marinette stuttered, quickly filling the break. "I thought…well, I thought it was something that she probably needed to know. Hopefully she remembers it. Knowing her, she might not, but I'd tell her again if she forgot." Marinette smiled and Adrien momentarily forgot where he was and what he was doing.

Then the Gorilla grunted over by the curb, breaking Adrien from his daze and reminding him what was going on. The bodyguard was standing beside the car, with the door open, staring, stony-faced at the four.

"I'd better get going," Adrien said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Marinette waved and finally relaxed as she watched Adrien run over to his car and slide in. That'd gone well. And how cute of him, to thank her. Honestly, all she was doing was standing up for a friend, but it was sweet of him to feel the need to thank her. Another trait about him that made her heart pine for him even more: his kindness.

The dark-haired girl reached up to touch the necklace he'd made her and smiled as his car pulled away from the curb. She didn't think she was ever going to take it off.

* * *

Marinette hummed as she worked on her dress for that final project. It was coming along really well. She was currently putting together the skirt on her mannequin. She's started the bare minimum of the bodice, but she wanted to focus on the skirt, because that was the more complicated part of the dress.

Meanwhile, Adrien, who she'd invited over to do homework, and for dinner (she'd invited him every single day after that incident with the grades), was sitting at her desk, working on Physics homework. Or trying to anyway. He'd spent at least half of his time—probably more than half—watching Marinette work. He enjoyed how invested and involved she got when designing, creating. When she needed something from somewhere else in her room, she'd basically dance over to get it, and it was such an endearing, adorable trait.

The mannequin she was using to model the dress was sitting in the middle of her room, so she had more space to walk around it. This also made it a little harder for Adrien to watch her without her actually knowing, but he managed it quite well. She hadn't noticed thus far. What he really loved was that she could be stunning, absolutely beautiful. And then she could be adorable and cute, like she was doing right now. And he loved both.

When Marinette's phone rang, Adrien jumped and quickly turned back to his papers, clumsily picking up his pencil, praying she hadn't noticed. Thankfully for him, she was just as oblivious to some things as he was. She picked up her phone and looked to see who it was.

"It's Alya. You don't mind if I put it on speaker, do you?" Marinette asked looking over Adrien.

"No, that's fine," Adrien assured, still slightly flustered having almost been caught staring.

Marinette smiled, stopping his heart, and said, "Great, thanks." She pressed a few buttons before setting her phone back down on the desk and going back to her dress. "Hey, Alya, what's up?"

" _I recently found a ton more information about Ladybug,_ " Alya exclaimed excitedly. Marinette almost dropped a pin (sometimes it was hard being the friend of an aspiring reporter/Number One Fan of Ladybug) and Adrien tried to not to perk up like a meerkat at the mention of his Lady. " _It's all uploaded on the LadyBlog. I spent all night combing through it and organizing. You have no idea how hard it was to not tell you about it today. But I hadn't posted it yet, and I wanted to wait until it was all uploaded—a kind of special surprise._ "

Marinette set her things down and sat down in the other chair at her desk, rolling it over to her computer, and pulling up the LadyBlog as she commented, "Self-control? You?" and Adrien scooted closer, trying to look only mildly interested. Marinette clicked on the most recent post. "Wow, sounds, and looks, like you worked hard on this."

" _You're hilarious,_ " Alya deadpanned, but Marinette could hear the hint of humor in her voice. " _But, oh, yeah, I found a painting in a textbook I was looking through for our history paper and I knew unless I pursued this lead, I wasn't going to be able to sleep._ "

"Okay, so…walk me through it?" Marinette requested, scrolling back to the top of the page.

At the top, there was the picture Alya must've have seen in her textbook. It was a painting on what looked to be some kind of yellowing parchment of a young Asian girl with a mask (obviously) that was in the black-and-red polka-dot design that was iconic for Ladybug, posing in a back stance, throwing her yo-yo. The long-sleeved dress she wore—what was it called…a qipao, Marinette thought—was also in the same polka-dot design, with slits up on either side all the way to her waist for easier movement. Underneath she wore pants that were pure black, along with her socks and shoes.

" _Of course! So that picture there is, obviously, Ladybug. I think this painting was made during the Tang Dynasty in China, which went from 618 AD to 907 AD._ " Marinette scrolled down and scanned the first few paragraphs as Alya continued. " _She fought a lot badies during that time, but the biggest documented one I could find was when she had to face what's referred to as the Four Fiends—chaos, gluttony, ignorance, and deviousness._

" _Can you believe she had to fight all four of them? At once!_ " Alya exclaimed. Marinette stopped scanning.

"All by herself?" she asked incredulously, looking at her phone, though Alya wouldn't be able to see the gesture. _Where was Chat?_ she wondered. Even with the confidence she gained as Ladybug, she didn't think she could fight four akuma victims at once by herself.

Adrien stayed silent, listening and reading Alya's post. He was afraid to say anything, because even though Marinette had put her phone on speaker, he didn't think Alya knew he was there. And he'd rather not make things awkward by suddenly speaking.

" _Oh no, Chat Noir was there,_ " the blogger assured. Marinette relaxed and started scanning again. Sure enough, Alya did mention in her post how Ladybug and Chat Noir had worked together to defeat the Four Fiends. " _Though, I don't know that he went by Chat Noir at that time period and in China. Translations are always tricky. I mean, it was China, so obviously they'd have Chinese names that are equivalents to the French names. But, anyway, he was definitely there. I'm still searching for a painting, if there is one. I'll upload as soon as I do. But isn't that exciting! Chinese history is so vast, so there must be more information I can find about Ladybug's time there._ "

"Yeah, Alya, this is an amazing find!" Marinette complimented. "I wonder if the Louvre would ever do an Ancient Chinese exhibit." She wondered aloud as she scanned over Alya blog post again. Just her luck, someone (or four someones) would probably get akumatized because of it and she and Chat Noir would have to fight the Four Fiends. Though, they'd won that first time….

" _All right, enough about me,_ " Alya said, breaking Marinette from her thoughts. " _How's your dress coming along?_ "

"I think it's coming along great," Marinette told her friend as she scooped up her pins and went back over to the mannequin. "Not even close to being finished, but it's getting there. Slowly."

" _I'm sure it's going to turn out_ beautiful _, girl. You're designs always do,_ " Alya encouraged.

"Thanks, Alya."

There was a moment of dead air before Alya asked in a teasing voice, " _So, what about Adrien?_ "

Marinette _did_ drop her pins this time, her gaze going over to the boy who had straightened in his chair. It looked like he'd been scrolling through the LadyBlog instead of going back to homework. Now, he was still at a statue, looking at the computer screen.

Obviously, because Alya was her bestie, Marinette had told her—well, more like _gushed_ to her—about how much Adrien came over to do homework and/or for dinner these days.

Marinette managed a nervous laugh. "What do you mean?"

" _Have you two kissed yet?_ "

That's when Marinette dove for her phone, scooping it up and turning away from Adrien, frantically trying to get it off speaker phone, but also sound casual so Alya wouldn't know Adrien was there. If she found out, Alya would tease her mercilessly until they did kiss.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked loudly, her voice going up a few octaves, her shaking hands having trouble finding the right button.

Alya laughed. " _I don't think my question that was complicated. Are you all right? You sound a little…flustered?_ " She paused. " _Did I catch you at a bad time?_ " Marinette could hear the suggestive tones in her voice.

"What? No! Not at all. I was just working on my dress, that's all." Marinette tried not to growl in frustration. Smart phones these days were supposed to make things simple, so why couldn't she find the stupid button?

" _Adrien's there isn't he?_ " Alya laughed, then shouted. " _Hi, Adrien!_ "

Marinette finally managed to hit a button that did something, only that something happened to be hanging up. She stood there, petrified for a long second, all her shaking stopping completely like a switch had been turned off.

"Oh no!" the girl gasped putting a hand to her head. "I hung up on her!" She turned toward Adrien, who had at some point during her panicked button pressing turned his chair around toward Marinette. "I should call her back. I'll be just outside, on the terrace." She pointed up before heading for her loft's stairs, cursing silently, very conscious of Adrien's eyes on her.

Once outside, Marinette called Alya back. The cool, fresh air helped her calm down a little and felt good on her heated face.

" _Did you just hang up on me?_ " Alya asked in mock anger.

"I am _so sorry_ ," Marinette started immediately. "I didn't mean to. I just panicked. Adrien was _right_ there, and I was only trying to get it off speaker, but I was having trouble finding the right button and…" She broke off, letting out a large sigh. "You know me and phones."

Alya chuckled. " _I'll let you off the hook if you get me a few of those delicious chocolate-chip cookies from your parents' bakery._ "

Marinette giggled. "Deal."

Downstairs, Adrien was contemplating calling Nino before Marinette came back downstairs.

Twice now, Adrien had thought about kissing Marinette. Not just thought about it, _wanted_ it. Badly. Thing was, he also got really nervous when he thought about kissing Marinette. It wasn't like he had a lot of experience. He didn't want to mess up and embarrass himself, make things awkward.

But Nino was dating Alya now, so surely he'd have some kind of advice, right…?

Adrien snatched up his phone from the desk and dialed his friend, glancing at the LadyBlog still pulled up on Marinette's screen, around Marinette's room, at her picture posted on her wall around her desk. They were mostly of her and Adrien: the pictures from the photoshoot they'd done for their history project, and a lot of selfies they'd taken together over the past few weeks since then. He couldn't help but smile at the memories they brought him.

" _Hey, man, what's up?_ " Nino said, startling Adrien from his reminiscing.

"Oh, well…I was just wondering if you could…give me some advice?" the blond asked hesitantly, regretting his decision already. Even if Nino could give him advice, it wasn't like he and Marinette were dating. Not like Nino and Alya were. How did that even work? How did couples decide they were dating? Did couples usually kiss before they decided they were a couple? He would've asked Nino, in fact, in that instance, he almost did, but thought better of it. He still wasn't that comfortable to reveal that he hadn't grown up watching cartoons and movies like his friends had. He didn't want to see the looks of pity in their eyes. Or hear it in their voices.

" _Yeah, of course,_ " the budding DJ replied enthusiastically. " _What are best buds for?_ "

Adrien took a deep breath. "It's about kissing."

There was a small moment of silence on Nino's end before, " _Oh, ho, ho,_ " Nino laughed. " _Kissing, huh?_ "

Adrien groaned. "You are _not_ making this easy." _You know what else isn't making this easy?_ he added silently, glaring at Plagg who'd appeared from his hiding spot after Marinette had left, and who was currently rolling on the desk with silent laughter. _Or should I say,_ who _else._ He added before, with a heavy sigh, slumping in his chair, the boy turned away from the desk.

" _I'm your best friend, dude, I'm not supposed to make things easy for you,_ " Nino commented, still chuckling. " _But you came to the right place, if I do say so myself. So, what do you need to know?_ "

Adrien scratched his head as he thought. "Well, I guess…I mean, I'd want to make sure that she likes me too, that she'd want to…kiss me too." Nino snickered on the other end. Adrien glared the floor, the beginning of a pout forming on his face. "What?"

" _She likes you, too,_ " Nino answered, just barely able to hold back his laughter, it was clear in his voice.

"How do you know?" Adrien asked, offended and disbelievingly. "Wait, I didn't even tell you who I was talking about."

" _It's Marinette, right?_ " Nino asked.

Adrien didn't quite know how to respond to that other than a mumbled, "Yes." Then, "So, how did you know?"

" _Who doesn't?_ " Nino muttered.

Adrien straightened up. "What?"

" _What?_ "

Upstairs, on the terrace, Adrien and Nino weren't the only ones talking about kissing.

" _Trust me, Marinette,_ " Alya said. " _He likes you, too._ "

"How can you be so sure?" Marinette groaned.

Alya sighed and Marinette straightened up, feeling offended, but she wasn't sure why.

" _Would you doubt my amazing, fantastic, miraculous journalist skills—_ " Alya broke off suddenly and gasped.

"What? Alya, what is it? Are you okay?" Marinette asked, turning and walking toward her skylight/door. When her friend didn't answer after a few seconds, concern started to creep into Marinette's bones. "Alya? What is it? You're starting to worry me—"

" _Someone's been akumatized,_ " Alya said breathlessly. " _I have to go film this for the blog. No doubt Ladybug and Chat Noir will show up any moment now. I'll talk to you later!_ "

"Wait, Alya, stay somewhere safe—" Marinette tried but was cut off when Alya hung up. "And she complains when _I_ hang up on her," the girl grumbled, pouting.

"Marinette," Tikki chimed in, popping out of her charge's bag. "The akuma!"

"I have to check Alya's blog. She didn't tell me where it was happening." Marinette jumped back into her room, flew down the stairs, and went to her computer. The LadyBlog was still up, so she refreshed it and clicked on the livestream. Adrien joined her, wondering what'd gotten her so keyed up. Also glad he'd hung up from his call to Nino not a moment too soon.

" _Live from outside the Louvre,_ " Alya was saying, her camera aimed at the akuma victim. They were shouting something and shooting…

Marinette and Adrien, both leaned forward, squinting, wondering if they were seeing right.

"Are those…?" Marinette started.

"Lasers?" Adrien finished.

" _That's right, folks,_ " Alya answered, as if she'd heard them, shifting her phone so she could be in the shot. " _This person is shooting lasers from their eyes. Ladybug and Chat Noir better get here quick!_ "

Both Marinette and Adrien straightened up at the same time.

"I have to go!" They proclaimed in sync before looking over at each other, freezing up momentarily, their brains trying to come up with a quick excuse.

"To the bathroom," Adrien continued with an uneasy laugh, a hand going up to rub the back of his head. He slowly started making his way to her door, making sure to skirt around the mannequin.

Marinette managed a weak smile as she followed him, before saying, "Um…and my parents need me down in the bakery for a bit. I don't know how long I'll be."

"That's fine, take your time," Adrien told her quickly, opening the door and stepping aside, waving a hand toward the doorway. "Ladies first."

"Oh, thanks," Marinette mumbled, awkwardly making her way down the stairs. She went to the door as Adrien went started toward the bathroom. But the girl paused suddenly as she was reaching for the handle and turned around.

"Adrien," Marinette called, causing the boy to stop. He turned to look back at the girl. "You're still staying for dinner, right?"

Adrien smiled. "Of course." With that, he turned and walked out of sight. Marinette took short breath to refocus before sprinting back up to her bedroom and opening up her purse as soon as the door had closed.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Adrien closed the door to the bathroom and let out a breath. That had been more stressful than it should have been. But there was no time to waste!

"Plagg, claws out!"

* * *

The day following was…well it was different.

After having cleansed the akuma, Marinette had raced back to her house, de-transforming on the landing up to her apartment, so it'd look like she'd just come from the bakery. Adrien was finishing up his Physics homework when she got back. They both continued their work in silence. For a while it was a bit awkward, but soon it became relaxed, comfortable, natural.

Dinner came and went without a hitch, as it usually did these days. Adrien had been over so many times for dinner, he was basically part of the family now. Sabine and Tom treated him like their own son. And Marinette was happy that Adrien was happy. She always felt a pang of sadness when he had to leave, at the thought of him going back to a big, silent, empty house, but was always relieved when she saw him the next day at school. And especially when he agreed to go over to her place to do homework/eat dinner with her family.

Despite their best efforts to pretend like what happened before the akuma attack hadn't happened, Marinette and Adrien could just barely concentrate on anything but the other person. Alya and Nino weren't helping one bit—continually joking and making fun of their friends about the whole kissing situation. Which, unfortunately, only made the two lovesick puppies avoid each other the whole day (much to Alya and Nino's amusement).

Finally, _mercifully_ , the day ended.

"Would you like me to text you again about our Physics homework?" Alya asked. One of the few things she'd said to Marinette all day that hadn't involved Adrien.

"That'd probably be best," Marinette sighed. Even though she was pretty good a remembering these days, sometimes it was hard balancing her normal life with her superhero one, and it was nice to have a backup in case she got so caught up in saving the world, she forgot about school work.

With their things packed up, Marinette started out, Alya following behind. Adrien was talking to Nino about something and had just stood up, throwing the strap of his bag over his shoulder, and turning to exit. As he was doing this, Chloé stood as well, just as Marinette was passing her and Adrien's desk.

Chloé, not having gotten over Marinette's telling-off, quickly shoved her way past Marinette. A little too hard, unfortunately, for the girl, who stumbled and started falling toward Adrien. Trying to catch herself, she turned, only Adrien was closer than she'd anticipated and their bodies collided. So did their lips.

It was like they'd fallen into a pocket of eternity that felt like it lasted forever, but in actuality had lasted for a millisecond because when Marinette realized what happened, she jumped away from Adrien with a squeak.

Her face was burning, eyes wide, staring at Adrien in shock and surprise and _sheer terror_. Adrien wasn't any better. Finally, without a word, and with only another small noise at the back of her throat, Marinette pushed past Chloé, whose mouth was on the floor because had _not_ been her intention _at all_ , sprinting out of the classroom and down the steps.

Adrien came to a few moments later. "Marinette, wait!" he called, following her out at about the same speed.

Alya and Nino high-fived before chasing their friends. They didn't want to miss this.

Adrien caught up to Marinette at the bottom of the steps outside of the school.

"Marinette!" he called again, reaching out and grabbing her wrist, forcing her to stop. In fact, she froze.

Swallowing hard, Adrien opened his mouth to say…something, he wasn't really sure what, but before he could Marinette turned to face him.

"I'm sorry," she started, avoiding his gaze. "I didn't mean to do that. It was an accident. Chloé pushed me and I lost my balance and I couldn't catch myself…" Marinette continued babbling on, like she did when she was nervous and embarrassed.

"No, it's fine," Adrien responded, realizing she probably wasn't going to stop talking any time soon.

However, that sure caused her to pause, in the middle of a word, too. She finally looked up at Adrien, very aware that he was still holding her wrist.

"What?" she asked, nervous for a whole new reason. Her heart started pounding irregularly in her chest. She was afraid that Adrien would feel her erratic pulse through her wrist, it was going so fast.

"Uh…um, well—" Adrien struggled before giving up and instead, stepping forward, leaning down, and pressing his lips to Marinette's again. Only less violently and painfully than last time.

Marinette was screaming on the inside, unsure of what to at first. Her lips were burning. Where Adrien was still holding her wrist was burning. Her heart was beating at the rate of a hummingbird's wings. Her brain had completely stopped.

But that heat spread, filling her with warmth. It wasn't the intense, overwhelming, burning heat anymore, it was the warmth of a sun rising or setting. It was comforting and wonderful. It made her extremely happy.

Marinette's eyes slid closed as she responded to the kiss. Adrien stepped closer, dropping her wrist and putting both his arms around the dark-haired girl's waist, pulling her closer to him. This allowed Marinette put her arms around the blond's neck.

Alya and Nino rejoiced silently from their hiding spot around the corner of the doorway that led into the courtyard of the school.

" _Finally_ ," Alya whispered, shaking her head, a grin spread across her face. Nino, who was also smiling, held out his fist for a fist bump. He met Alya's gaze as she hit her fist with his.

"Agreed," he said.

* * *

"Pound it!" Ladybug and Chat Noir chorused, bumping fists. And, as they usually did after a successful fight, their Miraculous started beeping, warning them that their time was almost up.

"I'd better get going." Chat smiled before he started to turn and grab his staff to help him leap onto a building. Ladybug still wasn't used to him not flirting with her anymore. As long as they'd worked together, he'd flirted with her. Of course, he still made jokes and puns—some things just never changed. (Though, she had to admit, if he stopped his jokes and puns, she'd be worried that something was wrong.)

Before Chat could get very far, something fell off him. Ladybug smiled and shook her head, going over to pick it up and waving at him.

"Hey, kitty!" she called, causing Chat to pause on the rooftop nearby. "You dropped something!" She held up the object she'd picked up. Chat quickly jumped from the building and as he was making his way toward her, she finally looked at what he'd dropped.

Her heart skipped a beat before stopping all together. Her blood froze in her veins. All the breath left her lungs, like someone had just opened the airlock door on a space shuttle. Her head swam as everything she thought she knew and understood imploded and collapsed around her.

"Hey, thanks—" Chat started.

"What's this?" Ladybug asked, interrupting her partner and pulling the bracelet away from his outstretched hand.

Chat looked back at Ladybug with confusion and concern at her sudden change in mood. "A lucky bracelet. My friend let me borrow it. Ladybug, are you okay?" Chat reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away, her eyes wide and stricken, just barely able to hold it together.

"My Lady, what's wrong?" Chat asked, really concerned now.

The young heroine shook her head, unable to answer. Her Miraculous beeped again and she was snapped out of her trance. Blinking rapidly, her eyes burning, she looked away from Chat. Her heart had started up again, at an alarmingly fast pace. Her blood felt like it was on fire.

One hand went to cover her earring, the other going for her yo-yo at her waist.

"I-I…I have to go," she managed in a thick voice. She threw the bracelet back at Chat, who just barely managed to catch it, before throwing her yo-yo at a building and pulling herself up onto the roof. Then she was running, sprinting, trying to get away from the truth that was dawning on her, while at the same time it had dropped on her head like a giant anvil, crushing her.

Chat's calls were lost in to the wind whistling in Ladybug's ears as she ran.

* * *

 **I have been so close to finishing this chapter all week, so needless to say, I'm so glad I finally got this to you guys.**

 **Also, may I just say, I'm not even remotely sorry about this cliff-hanger, friends. Like no regrets.**

 **Also, also, assume that at least a week, maybe more, has passed since those two dorks finally kissed and this last scene with the end of the akuma attack. I tried to slide a time stamp in there, but couldn't find a good place that kept the flow.**

 **A comment on the former Ladybug's dress: I was debating between three different options, because I really wanted to have her be a legend from the Tang Dynasty (right up there with, like, Mulan), but as I was looking at the dress of that time, I was noticing how inconvenient that style might be, even if she wore something men would wear during that time (long robes with big sleeves, and the like). But I also really wanted to keep it historically accurate (even though, technically, I really didn't need to). So, in the end, I opted to keep the time, but have her fashion sense be way,** _ **way**_ **ahead of its time for practicality's sake. (And I used references from** _ **Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior**_ **.)**

 **A different comment on Chinese translations (just because I'm learning Chinese and I just absolutely** _ **love**_ **the representation in this show; also maybe you're curious as to what the translations is and want to know if you don't already): As far as I know there's only a direct translation from Chat Noir (as black cat) to Chinese. Kind of like in the Korean eps, Adrien says, "Transform, Black Cat!" So, best bet (because they don't have the show in China…yet—God I hope they get it in China) would be** **黑色的猫** **(hei1 se4 de mao1—the numbers indicating the tones; if there's not number, there's no tone), or just** **黑的猫** **for short (I'm pretty sure you can simplify it like that, but don't quote me on that).** **They do, however, have a word for ladybug (** **瓢虫** **piao2 chong2** **)** **, so that's not a problem.**

 **All right, well, that's all for notes. I'll (hopefully) see you next weekend for the conclusion to this cliff-hanger. (Not the conclusion to the story quite yet, I don't think, though.)**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	8. Eight

**We have finally reached the amazing comic that this fic is based off/inspired by! Thank you, legend-of-sora! ^_^**

 **And so it begins…**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Cat Got Your Tongue?

Ladybug just barely managed to get back to the roof of the bakery before her Miraculous ran out. She dropped through the skylight and onto the bed just as her transformation ended.

Despite being wiped, Tikki floated up to Marinette, who was curled into a ball, clutching at her stomach, her legs underneath her. Her eyes were wide open, tears pooling in them as she stared down at her sheets.

"Did you know?" she asked in a broken voice, something Tikki had never heard from her charge.

"I…I don't understand," Tikki answered, her worry for Marinette rising slowly and steadily.

Marinette's head snapped up so she could look at her kwami. "Did you know _Adrien_ was Chat Noir?!"

"Marinette—" Tikki tried again.

"Answer me!"

"No, Marinette, I didn't."

Marinette stared at her kwami. "Why don't I believe you?" she whispered before climbing off the bed and making her way down the stairs to the main part of her room. She wasn't exactly sure what she had planned to do, but when she got to the middle of the room, she stopped. Paused. Thought.

When had Adrien started showing interest in Marinette? And when had Chat Noir stopped flirting with Ladybug?

When the answer came, it was pain that came first. It was a small warm spot in the middle of her chest, but the heat grew and grew until it was too much to bear. Just when she thought her heart was going to stop because of the pain, it exploded outward like a nuclear bomb, spreading the pain and the unbearable heat throughout her whole body. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, curling in on herself again, trying to hold herself together when all she wanted to do was fall apart.

Marinette suddenly remembered the choker around her neck. She reached up blindly and yanked it off, holding it in her open palm, looking down at the charm of the yin-yang symbol.

Betrayal.

That came next. She felt utter and absolute betrayal. The one who claimed to care for her had… _used_ her.

Marinette sat back, gripping the necklace, bringing her arm back, prepared to throw it. But the moment of anger passed just as quickly as it had come. She slumped back into a ball again, clutching the necklace to her chest.

Her sweet Adrien…. The sweet boy who'd offered his umbrella to her on that rainy day after school, who had been looking for a friend, had—

She gritted her teeth on the sobs that crawled their way up her throat.

 _Absolute_ betrayal.

In that moment she realized that love was cruel, harsh, cutting. Chat Noir loved Ladybug so much, it didn't matter how he got to know her, or how he did it, who he hurt. He'd _tricked_ her. Used the fact that Marinette had a crush on Adrien to his advantage. He hadn't seen Marinette—he never did—he only saw Ladybug.

The anger manifested again, only this time it actually set in. She was angry at Adrien for using her crush for him against her. She was angry at Chat Noir for being so in love with Ladybug, he didn't care who he hurt in the process. But most of all, she was angry at herself for falling for his game. Because that was what this was to him, a _game_.

Tears that she'd struggled to hold back spilled relentlessly from her eyes and guttural sobs finally managed to escape, straight from her knotted stomach, breaking through her lips.

She could hear Tikki's voice calling her name, asking her questions, but Marinette couldn't make out the words.

All of it was becoming too much, sensory overload—Tikki's voice, the pain she felt, the betrayal, the anger, her tears falling onto her pants, her sobs escaping her throat. She felt like she was drowning in it all, it was starting to pull her down until she felt she couldn't breathe. Her head was swimming, her vision was going grey and fuzzy, and just when she thought she might pass out something collapsed inside of her, at ground zero, where the nuclear explosion had hit.

Like how a star collapses because it can no longer push back the gravity that threatens to crush it, her heart collapsed under all the stress, the pressure. And in its place: a black hole that sucked everything into it like a vacuum—the pain, the betrayal, the anger, even the sound of Tikki's voice was gone. Leaving her…hollow, empty. She almost felt like a pumpkin: Someone had cut her open, reached in, and hollowed her out leaving nothing behind.

Marinette sat back, her sobs ceasing. Tears still leaked from her eyes, streaming down her face. She would've felt angry had that black hole not been there. Everything else had been taken, why hadn't her tears?

The strangest thing about the emptiness that filled her (ha, as if that wasn't strange enough)? It was surprisingly painful. Despite being empty, she felt so full, ready to burst. Every inch of her skin ached. She wanted to get rid of this pain that consumed her, but there was nothing _to_ get rid of anymore. She shouldn't _be_ crying. She shouldn't _feel_ this pain.

But she did.

Throughout all this, in the far recesses of her mind, she knew she had to pull herself up from this. She had to swim against the current that was pulling her into the deepest, darkest, coldest parts of the ocean, and break the surface. If she could just get a deep, fresh breath of air in, she could pull herself out of this before an akuma showed up.

Ultimately—as much as she _hated_ to admit this at this moment—she wasn't just Marinette, she was also Ladybug. She needed to be available in case someone else fell victim to an akuma. If she'd already fallen victim, how was she supposed to protect Paris?

But that wasn't fair to her! She was still just a kid, trying to figure out her life as Marinette _and_ Ladybug. She couldn't be Ladybug—courageous, ferocious, and heroic— _all the time_. It just didn't work like that, because underneath that mask, she was Marinette.

Just…Marinette.

A short, sharp breath of air hissed through her teeth. Just Marinette. It was no wonder Adrien only ever saw Ladybug, no wonder he never really liked Marinette. Ladybug was confident and fearless. She did what she needed to do and got the job done. She was also a mystery in Chat Noir's eyes. He'd been pulled in by the mask, not the person behind it—and when she'd denied him as Ladybug he'd taken advantage of knowing her civilian identity.

Marinette compared to Ladybug was…nothing.

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and shifted, pulling her legs up to her chest, burying her head in her knees.

What was Marinette? Clumsy and so blatantly lovesick, embarrassing on her good days, unable to string even a simple sentence together in front of _him_.

String.

That ignited something inside her. String…strung…being strung along, pulled blindly. Controlled unknowingly. Like a puppet.

Tikki's voice was strained but soothing, trying to comfort Marinette but also snap her out of it. The kwamis was situated on one of Marinette's knees. Marinette never saw the akuma flutter in. And Tikki didn't until it was too late.

As per its MO, it landed on something important to Marinette—the necklace Adrien had given her that was still clutched in her fist—and was immediately sucked in before Tikki could give a word of warning.

Marinette's head snapped up, a purple outline of a butterfly encircling her eyes. Tikki fell over herself as a kwami does in midair, crying out Marinette's name, doing nothing to hide her distraught, frantic tone anymore. But her voice was drowned out by a deeper, more soothing voice.

 _Marionette,_ he said. _I am Hawkmoth._

It was like a hand grabbing her ankle as she tried to swim to the surface, except it didn't invoke fear and panic.

Hawkmoth…why did that name sound so familiar? She felt like she was missing something…important. It was sitting at the back of her mind, just out of reach.

Before she could grasp it, Hawkmoth continued.

 _You're hurting badly. I am here to offer you a chance at revenge, to hurt the ones who have hurt you. All I ask, is that in return, you do something for me. Help me claim back something that was taken from me._

No, something was off, something was wrong with this. Why couldn't she figure out _what_? A small voice in the back of her mind that sounded like Tikki was telling her this was wrong, to fight it, to be strong. Hawkmoth could sense this, too.

 _Aren't you tired of feeling useless?_ he asked.

Useless. That's what she was. And she _was_ tired of feeling like that. All the times she messed up, all the times she stuttered over her words, all the times she got her words mixed up came rushing through her mind.

It wasn't Hawkmoth's voice this time, it was her own: _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

Why couldn't she feel always confident, know just what to say, what to do?

 _I can give that to you._ Hawkmoth told her in that soothing, deep, persuasive voice. _All you have to do is give in to your emotions. What's the harm? I can tell that you've been keeping your emotions in check for a long time. It's unhealthy to never release them once in a while, to keep them bottled up like you do._

The hand let go, giving her a choice—swim up or down, against or with the current.

He had a point. Having to save Paris, to be a role model, a superheroine, she wasn't allowed to have breakdowns. She always had to keep a cool head. But that just wasn't possible. She was still just a teenage girl, with her own thoughts and emotions.

And she was so _tired._ So tired of having to keep them bottled up, locked in a cage. She was tired of having to keep something so powerful and potent in check. It drained her.

What _would_ be the harm in letting go for a little while? Honestly?

She looked up through the water at the glistening sun through the fractured, blue waves one last time before turning to face the darkness of the abyss and taking the hand that had reached out to her a moment ago.

"Okay," Marionette finally answered, standing up, putting the necklace back on. "I'll do it."

Tikki had to make a snap decision. She only had seconds before the dark, sinister smoke fully engulfed Marinette. She had the ability to cleanse the akuma from Marinette's necklace. That was part of her power as a kwami, after all. But if she did that, Hawkmoth would know, he'd know that Marinette was Ladybug and she _could not_ , under any circumstance, let him know who Ladybug's true identity was. It was too risky, too dangerous, for Marinette, her family, her friends, anyone she cared about.

However, revealing her identity to someone she could trust…that was a different story.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," Tikki said, though the girl could no longer hear her. "I'll be back, I promise." With that, Tikki zipped off to go find Plagg.

* * *

Marionette looked around the room for a moment before going to the stairs up to the loft. The strings from the control bars in her hands dragging along as she walked.

When she got to the roof, Marionette first looked up at the sky. The clouds had come in. Large, purple clouds. A cold wind blew through the streets, bringing with it the smell right before it rained.

Then she looked over at the school. Lunch would be over soon. She had better head back.

After all, she didn't want to be late for class, did she?

Now she had a choice, jump from the roof and test out her abilities, or—who was she kidding? Of course she was going to test out her abilities, and scare whoever happened to passing by. Causing mass panic was all part of the job. Wasn't she supposed to attract the attention of Ladybug and Chat?

Of course, only one of them would be coming. But Hawkmoth didn't need to know that.

As the first few drops started to fall, Marionette grabbed the railing around the roof. Smiling, she easily threw her body over the edge, the ground rushing up to meet her. She heard the gasps and screams of some people, but ignored them as she crashed into the sidewalk.

Her legs buckled. She crumpled like a ragdoll and hit the pavement, but felt no pain. Nothing broken. Without a sound or word, she stood up, looking around at the shocked, scared faces of the Parisians. Something about their expressions was…exhilarating. Oh, she was having fun with this.

She wondered how her classmates would react, how _Adrien_ would react.

 _Time to find out,_ she thought as she started walking toward the school.

Meanwhile, Tikki had traveled all the way to Adrien's mansion, only to find him absent. She shot through the windows of his room, calling for Plagg and Adrien, but no reply came. She was hesitant to look for him around the house because she didn't have _time_.

Then it occurred to her. It was the middle of the day! Of course, he still had school. Tikki looked at the clock and realized that lunch had ended. He would be heading back to the school! She'd been so worried, she'd completely forgotten. How stupid!

The red and black-spotted kwami quickly exited Adrien's bedroom, heading for the school. She just hoped she'd make it in time. Even better, before Adrien arrived.

Marionette walked into the courtyard, ignoring the wide eyes and gasps, making her way up to her classroom. No one seemed to know how to react.

When she stepped into the room, it was Chloé she heard first. Her annoying, obnoxious laugh. She was standing near her desk, Sabrina already in her seat.

"Halloween's already passed," she commented loudly, grabbing the attention of the few students who were in the room. "It's a little late for that."

Not saying anything, Marionette raised one of her hands and flicked her wrist. The strings shot from her control bars and lashed around Chloé's wrist and ankles.

"Sit down, Chloé" Marionette said, moving her wrist again. Chloé complied with a yelp, the strings forcing her to take her seat, a look of absolute horror on her face. The rest of the kids reflected that look.

Sabrina shot up from her seat and tried to run for it, but Marionette simply flicked her wrist again. More strings flew toward Sabrina, wrapping tightly around the girl's wrist and ankles, freezing her in mid-sprint. With another movement of her wrist, Sabrina took her seat again.

The other kids were frozen, not daring to move, but Marionette wasn't going to take any chances. She raised her other hand and flicked both her wrist. More strings sped out toward the remaining kids, wrapping around their wrists and ankles.

Some tried to struggle, but Marionette kept them in their seats. When they started to yell and protest, she commented, "Puppets aren't supposed to talk." and put a finger to her lips. The yelling stopped immediately. Her classmates continued to scream, but no sound was coming out.

With that taken care of, she walked leisurely walked into the room. Looking out the windows, she could see it was a torrential downpour outside. Marionette looked to her right. She flipped the light switch. She liked that. It really set the mood. Her strings glowed with a faint, eerie light, illuminating her classmates' faces in a ghostly way.

Looking around the room, she thought, should she take her own seat? No, she wanted to be able to see everyone, to be able to see who was going to come in before they actually entered. She needed to be higher up.

Marionette walked up the steps in the middle aisle, all the way to the top before nimbly jumping up onto the bench Nathanaël was sitting at, before perching precariously on the back of it. She crossed her legs, sitting with perfect posture, and kept her eyes on the door.

As more of her classmates came in for the second half of the day, with an easy flick of her wrist, she trapped them with her strings, and forced them to their seats.

It wasn't until Alya showed up did Marionette hesitate. As wrapped up in her hurt as she was, Alya was her _best_ friend, she couldn't ignore something like that. Even with the influence of the akuma's negative energy.

Maybe it was her journalistic skills, but Alya froze as soon as she stepped into the classroom, sensing something was off. The other kids had been so wrapped up in their own thoughts, they hadn't even noticed the lights had been turned off.

Alya's shocked eyes took in all her classmates before going to Marionette, perched on the bench.

"Leave," Marionette ordered in a cold voice, not wanting to subject Alya to her controlling strings.

Unfortunately, Alya had the courage of a warrior, quite an asset in journalism, but it was something that got her into trouble a lot, too. Like right now.

"What have you done to them?" Alya asked instead, her hands fisting at her sides. Her eyes flickered around the room again, and she made a quick induction. Her hands went limp and she looked back at Marionette with wide eyes. "Marinette?" she whispered.

Marionette stood up, on the seat of the bench, and glared down at her friend.

"No," she told Alya harshly, gripping her control bars. "Leave, Alya. I don't want to hurt you."

"Marinette," Alya exclaimed, walking further into the classroom. "This isn't like you! What happened? You can talk to me. I'm your best friend!"

"This doesn't concern you," Marionette shouted back, feeling the painful hollowness swell up inside her again. "Leave!"

Alya took a breath in and fisted her hands again. "No. I'm not leaving until you let everyone go and we _talk_ about this. I wouldn't leave even if Ladybug told me to."

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Oh, I see, so this is about Ladybug's identity, is it?" Marionette sneered.

Alya seemed startled by this comment. "What, no—"

"You're never going to figure it out because you're a terrible reporter!"

The atmosphere got heavy as Alya took in those words. Somewhere, underneath all the suffering, Marionette felt bad. But it was better Alya be wounded and away from this, than strung up like a doll.

The amateur journalist opened her mouth, as if to say something, but nothing came out. With a wounded, watery-eyed glare and a growl, she ran out of the classroom. Marionette watched her friend go, disappear from sight, before sitting down on the back of the bench again.

A few minutes passed. Marionette was getting bored.

"I know," she said, thinking out loud. "Why don't I tell a story? After all, I've got all these wonderful puppets."

She raised her control bars and the strings responded to her movements.

"Once upon a time," Marionette started, making everyone except for Chloé get up out of their seats. "There was a girl who had convinced herself everyone loved her." She moved her classmates, so they were now gathered around Chloé, like they were all chatting with her, vying for her attention. "But in reality, everyone hated her because she was a mean, nasty person. And one by one, her so-called friends started to turn away from her." Following the story, one by one, her classmates moved away from Chloé, taking their seats once again. "Feeling lonely and abandoned, she turned to her last true friend…" Marionette made Chloé turn in her seat, toward Sabrina, just as she forced Sabrina to stand. "Only to find that even that _friend_ hated her, having realized the girl treated her 'friend' like a…like a doll." Marionette giggled as she made Sabrina walk over to Ivan's desk and sat her down there. The irony was not lost on her. "Yeah, like a doll. Manipulated her like a puppet. And so, the girl was left to be all alone, hated by her classmates. The end."

Marionette was so busy with her story that she hadn't realized Adrien had finally arrived until he ran into the classroom, breathing hard and slightly damp, only to come to a halt at the scene before him.

Two things happened simultaneously, then. Upon Adrien's arrival, Marionette's emotions surged like a volcano just a moment away from exploding or a wave reaching its full height before crashing down onto the sand—hurt and anger and a pain so intense it left Hawkmoth hollow, the very same hollowness she felt. But Hawkmoth's own emotions were present as well and a jolt ran through him when Adrien came into view.

Adrien.

His _son_.

She was angry at his son.

Their two emotions were sent out like shockwaves, through their connection and when they collided, they both went reeling momentarily, the blast of emotions so strong it was like a supernova of emotions coming into existence. Hawkmoth physically nearly lost his balance, but he gripped his cane, gritted his teeth, and regained his bearings. He straightened up and swallowed hard, trying to reign in his emotions.

Marionette, who was already sitting, blinked from the sudden change of emotions—the onslaught of Hawkmoth's confusion and realization and…hesitance?

Marionette stood from where she'd been sitting (causing Adrien to take a step back, his wide green eyes fixed on her), like a string connected to her back had pulled her up, her arms falling limply to her sides, and cocked her head. Only the movement wasn't smooth, it was more like suddenly the right side of her head had become heavier than the other and her neck could no longer hold it upright.

"What's this?" she asked out loud, her voice making a chill shoot down Adrien's spine. It was softer than Marinette's usual voice, and light like a feather, but that only made the situation even scarier.

Finally, Adrien managed to find his voice, despite how dry his mouth was at the moment, "Marinette?"

He was sure that's who it was, but at the same time…she looked so different. Her hair was messier than usual, like she hadn't brushed it before putting it into her usual pigtails. Her skin was uncharacteristically pale and smooth, like she'd been carved from wood. Her cheeks were painted with bright red dots—one dot on each cheek. Her lips looked like they'd been stitched onto her face.

Her white shirt with the cute pink flowers on them, her blazer, and her pink jeans had been replaced by a ballet-type dress. This bodice of the dress laced up nearer the neckline with what looked to be leather strips and had sleeves that looked like they'd been cut crudely with a pair of dull scissors, with loose strands of fabric hanging out. The leather strips were connected to thinner strings that wrapped around her neck like a cocktail dress.

The skirt of the dress was looser and flowed more than a traditional ballet dress, going down about mid-thigh. And where the two pieces connected, on either side of her waist were little bows, the extra ribbon almost as long as the skirt.

Her pink flats had been replaced with red ballet shoes with ribbons wrapping in a crisscross fashion up most of her lower legs. Both the shoes and ribbon around her neck were the same red that the dots on her cheeks were. None of that was what really shocked Adrien, though, what knocked the breath from his lungs.

It was the red ribbon tied around her neck in a small bow. In the middle of that bow? A charm of what used to be a yin and yang symbol, only what showed now was the black side of the symbol. It almost looked like the white side had been pried out. The pendant and bow were also perfectly centered on her neck.

No doubt, it was Marinette.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realized that she reminded him of a puppet. A doll.

In her hands were two things that resembled crosses, with strings attached to each end. They dropped from the crosses, and though they gleamed and glowed a spectral silver, they disappeared into darkness before they touched the ground. Adrien could no longer see them. It was only until they'd connected with someone did the glow reappear.

At the sound of her former name, Marionette's eyes flickered to him. No, not flickered. The movement of her eyes was almost nonexistent. One moment her eyes had been focused on something to Adrien's right, the next they were staring directly at him. Had she blinked since he'd arrived?

"I've been waiting for you, Adrien," Marionette said in that soft, lulling voice. She stepped down, off the bench. Even though she looked like a whole piece, she moved with surprisingly unstable movements. As she stepped down, the whole right side of her body seemed to tilt that way, her left side lifting uncharacteristically high, like a string was pulling on her shoulder. Her left leg seemed to buckle as she stepped down and Adrien had to force himself not to run up and steady her.

Marionette turned toward him again, taking another step down. Adrien unconsciously took another step back, only to bump into the teacher's desk behind him. He jumped and looked at it over his shoulder before turning his attention back to Marinette.

 _At this rate, I can't transform,_ he thought, watching Marinette carefully, trying to think of a way out of this. But he was also confused. _I don't understand…why is she targeting me specifically?_

"What's the matter?" Marionette asked, taking yet another step down, getting closer and closer to Adrien. Hawkmoth waited silently, trying not to give anything more to Marionette about how he felt for this particular boy, but it was becoming harder and harder the closer she got to Adrien. Marionette continued, "Cat got your tongue?"

Adrien's eyes widened. It wasn't just the comment—was it some sort of twisted wink to who he was, did she know?—it was also because her voice had changed. It had gone from that soft, breezy sound to something harder. A better comparison would've been water in a river—fluid, soft, and lilting—that'd been hit with a sudden flash-freeze. Her voice had frozen, carrying more weight, becoming cold and sharp and mocking.

"Marinette," Adrien snapped, his fists clenching at his sides, his heart pounding in his chest. "I don't get it! What did I do?"

Marionette took another step forward. "You don't get to play innocent!" The sudden anger in her voice startled Adrien. He felt like a weight had just slammed down on his chest, making it harder to breathe. Marionette went on, "I thought you liked me! For me! But you were only ever after _her_! You _played_ me! Strung me along!" She laughed bitterly, something that didn't fit Marinette at all. Marionette sneered. "And I danced for you."

This only confused him even more. Who was this other her? He didn't understand. There wasn't another girl. Did she possibly mean Chloé? But that didn't seem right, Marinette know Adrien had no interest in Chloé, romantically or otherwise.

Adrien tried to hold his ground as Marinette got closer. His chest was heaving and all his instincts were telling him to run, but he had a bad feeling if he tried to run now, something bad would happen. To him, or his classmates who were attached to Marionette's strings.

"Who are you talking about?" Adrien demanded. "I _do_ like you!"

Marionette ignored him. "Now it's your turn to dance!" she shrieked, her arms suddenly jumping up as she held her control bars.

 _Now,_ Adrien thought, _I should run._

Marionette flicked her wrist, and strings went flying toward Adrien at an alarming speech.

He had just made it to the door when he felt chords made from steel lash around his wrists and ankles and he froze in mid-run. But just as fast as they had stopped him, the chords went slack.

Adrien fell forward and he quickly scrambled away, the strings falling off of him.

His eyes darted up to Marionette, whose eyes were outlined with a purple butterfly. Her head was titled to one side, her eyes were far away.

"Do I sense…resistance?" She asked. "How strange? Why would that be, I wonder…?"

Adrien wondered why, too, but realizing this was his chance, the blond got to his feet, ran out of the classroom and down the steps. He would have to think about that later.

Maybe she'd have to relinquish her hold on his classmates if he got her far enough away. Obviously, she was after him for some reason he couldn't fathom. Of course, there was the possibility that she could control them, and therefore she'd simply take them with her when she went looking for him.

All this was racing through his mind as he got down into the courtyard and, without hesitating, exited the school building, flying down the stairs. He quickly turned and hid in the corner that connected the top of the steps to the building, trying to catch his breath.

He had the option of transforming now, but obviously Ladybug hadn't shown up yet, and he couldn't exactly do anything if he managed to get the akuma out of whatever item it'd infected. (Adrien had a strong feeling it was the choker around Marinette's neck.) Or worse, if he got caught by those strings. If he could get close enough he might be able to use his Cataclysm to destroy her control bars, but that was taking a _big_ chance. There were just too many variables to think about.

And it wasn't like they always showed up at the same time, but he didn't want to gamble getting the akuma out and then not having her purify it.

They'd seen what happened when an akuma went unpurified. There was no way he was going to risk that again.

This only begged the question: _Where was Ladybug? Surely she'd be here by now._

It was still pouring, and at this point, Adrien was soaked. And freezing. He had to make a decision fast.

Lifting his hand, he looked at his ring.

Plagg had appeared, and was not floating a few inches away from Adrien, waiting for a decision.

He'd be better suited to dodge those strings as Chat Noir, which would allow him to possibly get through to Marinette.

"Plagg, claw ou—" Before he could finish his sentence, Adrien saw a flash of red. "Did you see that?"

Plagg spun and looked the direction Adrien was. The kwami's ears perked. "Tikki?"

"Who's Tikki—wait, Plagg!" Adrien reached for his kwami as Plagg zipped around the corner, following the flash of red. Adrien was just about to follow when he heard Marinette's voice calling for him. A shiver shot up his spine, and it wasn't because of the rain.

"Where did you go?" she called. "Come on now…don't be a scaredy-cat."

There it was again, a cat joke. Did she know? If she did, how had she figured it out?

Adrien suddenly remembered that he had been going to follow Plagg and almost blew his cover. Presumably, Marinette was standing at the top of the stairs. If he ran out now, she'd surely see him. But if he wanted to figure out who Tikki was and why Plagg had followed that red flash, then he'd have to risk it.

Taking a deep breath, he sprinted from his hiding spot, not daring to look behind him. He managed to turn the corner just as the strings got to him. Good news: he hadn't been caught. Bad news: the strings had taken a chunk of the corner with them. Either she was aiming to kill, or those strings were like iron.

Adrien stared in shock and horror at the corner and rubble that'd come from it.

She heard Marionette yell in anger and frustration, "What are you doing? Why are impeding me?"

Had she not meant to miss? Or, rather, had she been on target, but _someone else_ had made her miss?

Adrien knew Hawkmoth gave his victims their powers, so surely that meant he could…take them away, right?

Marionette was asking the biggest question: _Why_?

A voice hissed, "This way! Come on!" breaking Adrien from his swirling thoughts.

The boy turned and looked around, looking for the source of the voice. He saw the red flash again, along with Plagg, fly into an alleyway. With a quick glance behind him, he sprinted across the street and into same alleyway. It wasn't out of rain, unfortunately, but maybe it was for the best. The last thing he wanted to do was endanger someone else with Marionette's strings.

"Plagg?" he asked uncertainly, his soft voice barely making it through the sound of the rain.

Plagg appeared along with the red flash Adrien had seen. Only, now that it was still, he realized it was another kwami. He stared at the red and black-spotted kwami in front of him, the pattern was so familiar…

"You're…you're Ladybug's kwami!" Adrien exclaimed, feeling lightheaded. He'd known she had a kwami, but meeting her kwami was unreal. But if her kwami was here, where was she? Why hadn't she transformed? His thoughts went to the worst: Was she okay? Had something happened to her? Was she hurt and unable to—

"I don't have much time to explain, but Marinette knows you're Chat Noir," the red kwami—Tikki was it?—said in a frantic voice, breaking Adrien from his spiraling thoughts. "She's really hurting right now, because she thinks you used her to get closer to—"

"Wait, what?" Adrien cut Tikki off. "What does Marinette have anything to do with Ladybug's kwami—?" He broke off, it all falling into place. His world tilted, leaving him momentarily breathless and dizzy.

 _Marinette_ was _Ladybug_?

"She…she thought…" Adrien said in a hoarse voice, feeling dazed and even more lightheaded. Tikki's words started to make sense. "She thought I knew." He finally managed, closing his eyes, his voice shrinking. "Marinette thought I knew her civilian identity and that I was using her to get to Ladybug."

It all made sense now! The cat quips, the "her" Marionette had mentioned. Marinette's lucky bracelet. _That's_ why Ladybug had been so upset this afternoon.

How stupid of him! He should've been more careful.

"After she found out who you were, she broke down," Tikki explained, sounding miserable. "I tried to comfort her, but she was so…heartbroken. She really loved you. I didn't even see the akuma…"

"How am I supposed to…?" Adrien trailed off. "Without Ladybug…"

"Just get the akuma—it's in her necklace," Tikki explained. "I'll take care of the rest."

Adrien felt determination rush through him. He was going to make this right. With his jaw set, he turned and started to head out of the alleyway.

"Hey, wait, aren't you going to transform?" Plagg asked, flying up next to his charge.

"No, I don't think that will help anything," Adrien argued, stopping to look at Plagg. "I need to talk to her as me. She liked Adrien, not Chat."

The blond turned toward the entrance of the alley again and barely made it a step before someone appeared, standing directly in his path.

Marionette smiled. "Well, what do we have here?" she asked. "A soaked, mangy alley cat?"

* * *

 **I honestly hate to leave it here, but this chapter's getting kind of long and—oh who am I kidding, I love cliffhangers. (But, for serious, this chapter is hella long.) I'm just excited I finally got the part this whole fic is based around/inspired by.**

 **Sorry about the wait! (And, I just realized, from another cliffhanger…) This past week was just so hectic for me. Like since two weeks ago, I've been swamped with homework. Every time I finish one project (like a big essay, an exam, or a homework assignment that's not reading) I realize I have like 7 more waiting for me, all spanned out across the rest of this semester. SO. IT. NEVER. ENDS. (And I feel like I'm slowly dying from stress.)**

 **In any case, here is finally. I'll try to get the next chapter to you next weekend. No guarantees, but we'll see how everything goes. I've got most of it planned out in my head, I just have to put it into words. Which is, arguably, the hardest part. But, you know…**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Can't wait to hear what you think!**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


	9. Nine

**All right, one more mighty thanks to legend-of-sora for letting me base this fic off her comic strip!**

 **It's been an adventure, and I'm so glad that I was able to share it with all of my lovely readers and fellow ML fans. I hope this is a nice ending to a relatively sweet story. It was a new experience for me, writing about my two fave dorks, but I enjoyed it and it was good practice for future ML fanfics if I were to ever write more.**

 **Anyway, shall we get to it? I know I've kept you waiting for quite a while…**

* * *

That's Perfectly All Right

"Marinette!" Adrien tried, his hands fisting at his sides. "Please, listen to me—" The boy broke off and jumped to one side of the alleyway as those strings shot at him again. He tucked and rolled, but the alley was small. As he was coming out of his roll, he very narrowly avoided flying face-first into the brick wall. He managed to turn just in time, but his shoulder still collided with the unforgiving structure. Pain shot through his arm and into his chest.

Adrien struggled to his feet, blinking the rain from his eyes and clutching his shoulder. Marionette had advanced further into the alley, her gaze locked on him. He took a wobbly step toward her.

Marionette froze a moment, a thought flitting through her mind, _Reckless._

"Marinette, please," Adrien tried again, his voice laced with pain this time. "I didn't know, I swear. I didn't know…"

The moment passed, Marionette's eyes flickered to meet Adrien's eyes.

"Liar!" She lifted her arms again and the blond had a split-second to react, leaping to his left to get away from the strings. He wasn't fast enough, though. One of them caught his ankle and he hit the ground hard, his teeth snapping together (it was a miracle he didn't bite his tongue off). The air was knocked from his lungs momentarily, his vision hazy with pain. The cold from the rain wasn't helping, soaking him to the bone, amplifying all the aches.

The weight of the string was gone just as fast as it had appeared. Adrien capitalized on this moment to the best of his ability, pulling away and struggling to get to his feet again, only managing to make it to his hands and knees, one arm wrapped around his middle.

At this rate, he was fighting a losing battle. He was surprised she hadn't attacked him again. Looking to his right, he realized why, though. Marionette was speaking with Hawkmoth.

"You care so much for this boy?" she ground out. " _Why?_ "

Hawkmoth was silent for a while. There wasn't a change he'd ever reveal his identity to a civilian. That could be a disaster. At the same time, his emotions were getting in the way. He couldn't bear it if anything happened to Adrien. Not after he'd lost his wife.

 _That's none of your concern,_ he finally answered with a steely coolness he used when doing business. _I gave you these powers, I can take them away just as easily. Remember that._

"Going back on your word? You didn't strike me as the type," Marionette quipped back.

Hawkmoth was silent again.

 _If you_ must _,_ he finally said, resigning himself. _At least avoid the face, he's got a photoshoot tomorrow, you know how it is._

Marionette smiled and chuckled darkly as the purple butterfly faded around her eyes. She focused back in on the alley, only to find it deserted.

"A game of hide-and-seek?" she called playfully. "How exciting!" She walked further into the alley, her head jerking around as she searched. "Only, it would seem the roles have been reversed. You're no longer the cat."

Adrien listened hard for Marionette's footsteps through the sound of the pattering rain, currently huddled behind a part of the wall that jutted out, providing just enough cover. He was shivering so hard now he could hardly breathe. It was all he could do to keep his teeth from chattering. His thought process was if he could just get close enough to her, maybe he could get her to listen to him, even if it was for a second, convince her that he really hadn't know she was Ladybug until just a few moments ago.

Plagg had appeared as soon as Adrien had hid, trying to quietly convince his stubborn charge to transform.

"She knows who you are, it's in your best interest to transform," the black kwami urged in a whisper. "You're cold and tired, you won't last long. At least as Chat Noir you've got a better fighting chance."

Adrien looked at his kwami with fierce green eyes despite the cold, despite the pain. "No, I'm n-n-not g-g-g-going to. It would c-c-c-come off as ins-s-s-sinc-c-cere."

Marionette's voice rang through the alley, sending a chill down Adrien's spine, "You're the mouse."

Something was off. Adrien jumped out into the alley again just as Marionette's strings struck the place he was hiding behind, turning a good chuck of it into rubble.

Adrien had barely enough time to regroup before the strings were coming at him again. He narrowly avoided them, but instead of leaping away, he charged toward Marionette with one last surge of energy.

"Marinette, I s-s-s-wear I didn't kn-kn-know," he yelled, dodging her strings again as he kept advancing. "You've g-g-got to b-believe me! Please, t-t-trust me!"

He was only a few feet from her now.

But just as he got to her, she flew up, almost like she'd been yanked up by invisible strings in the sky, and flew backward several meters, causing the blond to stop where he was.

Adrien's knees almost gave out.

Marionette paused, looking at the boy with conflicted eyes. She was still hurting, but…his words. It was entirely possible he really _hadn't_ known…but the longer she looked, the more the anger bubbled up inside her.

No, no, that was wrong. She wasn't angry, necessarily. She was _hurt_.

Marionette raised her arms, shooting out her strings once again. Adrien tried to dodge, but he was too slow. Cold, fatigue, aches and pains stopped him from being able to avoid them this time. One string caught his wrist and it was all over. More strings lashed onto his arms and legs, immobilizing him. His eyes darted from all the strings back up to Marionette, who was slowly approached him now. For the first time today, he felt a thrill of fear rush through him.

She could never get herself to hurt him. She cared far too much for him. And that's why it hurt so much.

"M-M-Marin-n-nette, p-p-please—" Adrien broke off, but not of his own accord. Marionette had silenced him with a wave of her hand. He glanced at his ring, thinking if there was a time to transform now would probably be it—would it still work if he could only think it?

He looked back at Marionette. If Hawkmoth was watching, that meant he'd know who Chat Noir was. And Adrien wasn't about to let that happen. He _couldn't_ , under any circumstance let Hawkmoth get his hands on his Miraculous.

Marionette came closer and closer at an agonizing pace. Adrien couldn't just let her do whatever it was she was planning. He needed to act, to do _something_ , to try to get through to her!

He took a deep breath and summoning the last of his strength he started to pull at his binds. They pressed into his arms and legs painfully, like a dozen tiny, molten hot knifes were being pressed into his skin. Gritting his teeth, he continued to pull, finally managing to break his right arm free.

Marionette paused, her eyes going wide his shock and horror. Red splashed against the street, coloring the rainy, grey afternoon—vibrant red. Another jerk and Adrien's right leg came free. The tearing of Adrien's jeans tore through the sound of the rain. More red colored the street, colored Marionette's vision. It soaked into the cloth of the boy's pants. The strings on Adrien's left side fell away and Adrien collapsed to one knee, struggling to keep upright. His head bowed and shoulders hunched an indicator of how well he was managing. His whole frame shook, but it could've been from pain, fatigue, or the cold, Marionette wasn't sure.

She was sure of one thing: _She never meant to hurt him. Ever._

In fact, he was shaking because of all three things: pain, exhaustion, and the cold. The cuts the strings had given him stung more than he thought they should, sapping his energy. Of course, not having experienced a normal childhood meant also missing out on cuts, scrapes, and the occasional broken bone, so that also could've been why they seemed to hurt so much.

Or maybe it wasn't even the cuts at all.

His voice was quiet when he spoke, but Marionette didn't have trouble catching it because the rain had gone silent, almost as if it had stopped, but she could feel it. It was still definitely raining, she had somehow…blocked it out. All she heard now was Adrien's soft voice, reminding her of why she'd fallen for him in the first place.

"I've n-n-never h-had a g-g-girlfriend," he said, head still bowed, still on one knee. Marionette jolted, and stumbled back. Those words…why did they sound so familiar? Why did they conjure up…?

Adrien lifted his head and met her eyes, a small smile gracing his features despite the pain he was in. "It's all s-s-ort of…n-new to me."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and Marinette started, the sound of the rain coming back full force. She blinked rapily as it all came rushing through her: the hurt, the pain, the betrayal, the self-loathing, the horror at what she'd done.

Tears filled her eyes and she quickly buried her face in her hands, her knees buckling.

"Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed, struggling to get to his feet.

"I just…" she sobbed. "I just…I'm not—" She shook her head as Adrien stumbled toward her. "I'm not brave. Or courageous. I'm not strong and fearless. I only _feel_ that way as Ladybug because…she saves people. _She's_ brave. _She's_ courageous. _She's_ strong and fearless." Marinette sunk lower to the ground as she continued. "I just…couldn't fathom why you'd fall in love with _me_ , Marinette," the girl continued. "I'm a klutz who can't even form a single sentence around you, and who is always making a fool of herself in front of everyone."

Adrien finally got to her. He collapsed beside her, but pulled her into his arms.

"I'm s-so s-sorry, M-M-Marinette," he choked, holding her closer to him. "I d-didn't know…I-I didn't kn-know…"

With a shaking hand, Adrien reached up and yanked the choker off of Marionette's neck. It broke easily in his fist. The akuma fluttered out. Adrien let out a breath. It was over. It was finally over.

The rain even lessoned into a drizzle instead of downpour.

When Adrien looked back down, Marionette had reverted back to Marinette.

The girl pulled her hands away from her face and looked around, wondering why there were tears running down her cheeks, why she was soaking wet, why she was in an alley, why Adrien was currently holding her—

Adrien!

She looked up at him, it coming rushing back to her. Specific details were fuzzy, but she remembered the hurt, she remembered the pain. She also remembered, near the end—he hadn't known. He hadn't known she was Ladybug. He'd really fallen for _her_.

The boy in question looked down at her with a gentle smile, but his breathing was labored and his skin was feverish. He was also shaking so hard, she was afraid he was going to just…fall apart.

Marinette opened her mouth to say something when she spotted the red on his arm and leg. He was bleeding! He was bleeding…because of her!

She tried to get out of his embrace, a new wave of tears filling her eyes.

"Get away from me!" she yelled, jerked away.

Adrien held fast, despite what he'd just gone through.

"M-M-Marinette, what—I d-d-don't unders-s-stand." He sounded hurt, heartbroken.

Marinette met his eyes, still trying to get out of arms, which had encircled around her waist.

She lifted a shaking hand to his bleeding arm.

"I hurt you," she whispered, her tears falling. "I hurt you. I'm dangerous! Don't come near me! I don't want to hurt you again!"

"N-N-No, Marin-nette," Adrien objected, struggling to keep his hold on her. He wasn't going to let her get away from him this time. If he'd just followed her when she'd found out he was Chat Noir, they could've avoided all this. He'd seen how upset she'd been, but hadn't followed her, he'd let her get away.

Now, Marinette was still clearly hurting and confused. Adrien was determined to make things right again.

Adrien's vision was momentarily blocked by a whirlwind of glowing pink, red, and black. Warmth flooded through his body, chasing away the cold of the rain. Some of his strength returned. The cuts on his arms vanished.

When he could see again, the first thing he saw was Marinette's kawmi, Tikki. She looked wiped and started to fall from where she'd been floating. Adrien instantly moved to catch her, but Plagg appeared and helped gently lower Tikki to the ground. Adrien couldn't help but smile at the two. It seemed they cared for each other just as much as he and Marinette cared for each other.

Adrien turned his attention back to Marinette, who had stopped struggling. Her gaze was on the ground, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Marinette," Adrien said gently, glad he could finally talk without stuttering. He caressed her cheek and turned her head so she was looking at him. "I'm fine." He unwound his arm from her waist and showed her. Marinette's lower lip trembled right before she threw her arms around Adrien's neck and started crying.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed.

Adrien held her to him, gently rubbing her back, his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I want you know," the boy started softly, as the dark-haired girl continued to cry, "that you were always brave, and courageous, and strong long before you became Ladybug. You've _always_ had it in you. It's _always_ been a part of who you are. You don't have to be fearless. What makes you brave is the fact that you _are_ afraid, but you fight anyway. Sometimes we just need a little coaxing." Marinette's tears slowly subsided, as did her sobs. Adrien continued, "And you know what: that's perfectly all right."

The boy pulled back so he could look at her. "And you know what else?"

Marinette looked back at him with her gorgeous blue eyes. She shook her head nearly imperceptibly.

"I love you, Marinette."

* * *

Marinette groaned, her head pounding. Even on the lowest light setting, the light from her phone screen was killing her, but she refused to turn it off. She curled in on herself and pulled her blankets over her head, but made sure to leave a small hole she could look through at her phone, which was propped up against her pillow currently.

" _Does the world always seem to be spinning when you're sick?_ " Adrien asked squeezing his eyes shut from the other end of the video call. He was also in bed, much like Marinette, curled up. Thought he was holding a pillow against his head, each end pressed against his ears.

Marinette let out a wheezy, little laugh, which only caused her to start coughing. She groaned again once the fit had passed.

" _You okay?_ " Adrien asked before reaching for a tissue and blowing his nose.

"Yeah, I'm all right," she replied, her nose just as stuffed as Adrien's sounded. "I only get the spinning when I try and stand up. Have you seriously never gotten sick before?"

" _Nothing as serious as this_ ," the boy said. " _My father's very careful about that. Well…usually._ " Adrien chuckled. " _It's not so bad. I did say I wanted the_ whole _teenage experience._ "

Marinette snorted and rolled her eyes, which didn't help her pounding head. She groaned again, pressing her palms to her temples.

" _Are you sure you want to keep talking?_ " Adrien asked, noticing her discomfort.

"I need someone to commiserate with me in my misery," Marinette explained, clearing her throat, only to go into another coughing fit. "Besides, Alya isn't helping. She's like a second mom." Marinette did her best Alya impression, which sounded off because of her sore throat and stuffed nose. " _That's what you get for sitting out in the rain and cold._ "

" _So she's not upset about…what happened?_ "

"I think she's still trying to work through it, but I explained why I'd said what I said and she seemed to understand." One of the only things Marinette did remember. It was clearer than her other memories, which is to say the other memories were virtually nonexistent, but it was all still very fuzzy. She didn't like thinking about it because it only gave her a headache. Well, right now, worsened her headache.

Marinette and Adrien continued to talk about everything under the sun, waiting for the medicine their parents had given them to kick in. It was agreed they could skip patrols for tonight. They were much too sick to be going out. Hopefully they'd be well enough to go tomorrow night. Paris _should_ be okay until then. (With their luck, who really knew?)

Adrien's meds kicked in first, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. He fought to keep them open, enjoying their conversation, their time together, but eventually couldn't fight it anymore. Marinette smiled at the scene of Adrien asleep, peaceful. She reached forward her fingertips just barely brushing the surface of the screen and smiled.

"I love you, too, Adrien," she whispered before pulling her hand back, content with just watching the blond sleep.

The girl fell asleep soon after.

Marinette and Adrien weren't the only ones taking advantage of video calls. Tikki and Plagg appeared and struck up a conversation glad they didn't have to have short, secret conversations anymore. They'd never admit it to each other—well, maybe Plagg wouldn't, at least—but they missed being able to talk to each other. When Adrien started coming over to Marinette's more frequently, they'd gotten a change to hang out, but they always had to be careful. Now, there was no such worry.

" _They're hopeless,_ " Plagg commented as their Miraculous holders continued to softly snore behind their respective kwamis.

Tikki snorted. "They're still kids. They'll figure it out."

" _Doubtful._ "

" _You're_ hopeless."

" _Rude._ " Plagg paused. " _This kid is so backward. He_ wants _to go to school. He_ wants _to get sick. Just when I think I've figured him out, he takes me by surprise. Honestly, Tikki, it's very stressful._ " He paused again. " _Don't tell him I said this, but I worry about sometimes._ "

Tikki rolled her eyes, but she didn't miss the tone of his voice. "What's bothering you?"

" _This is the most time I've seen his father spend time with him._ " The black cat kwami glanced back at his ward." _This is probably the second time I've seen him so happy. Honestly, I thought he'd get Nathalie to take care of him._ "

"And why is that a bad thing?"

" _Well…I've been thinking,_ " Plagg said thoughtfully, if not a little concerned, turning to face Tikki again.

On any other day, Tikki would've made a joke: Plagg, thinking? Nonsense! But she could tell he was being serious (another rare occurrence), now wasn't the time for jokes. She waited patiently.

" _Just…Marionette's comments, when she was talking to Hawkmoth…_ "

"I've been thinking about that, too," Tikki sighed. "You don't think—" She didn't want to say it out loud. That would make it too real.

Plagg was quiet for a long time. " _If it is,_ " he finally said, looking back at Adrien again, Tikki following his gaze. " _It would destroy him._ "

* * *

 **IDK, I feel bad for leaving you on such an odd note, without a plan to continue, because this is definitely the end of the story. But…I mean I guess it kind of reflects how I'm feeling right now. At the same time, I do like this ending. It's kind of…suspenseful, open-ended. Dramatic. Like I said, I don't know. At this point, I have no idea what's going on in my life. Or my writing, apparently.**

 **If you'd like me to continue, I might. I can't say it's a guarantee, but if I get enough requests I'll think about where I could possibly take this. Again, there isn't a guarantee that I'll continue in this UA, but who knows. Further down the road, I might come back to it and pick up the storyline. See where it takes me.**

 **Anyway, thank you all again for joining me! I don't think I've gotten such an enthusiastic response for one of my stories before. And it was a very nice, happy feeling. I really love this fandom, so keep it friends! You're all miraculous! Thank you so, so much for all the comments and favorites. They make me very happy.**

 **So, with that, the story comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed! And thank you for being patient with me. Especially on the weeks where I was busy and couldn't post. (*cough* like this past week *cough*) Oh speaking of, I do apologize. It's just been crazy because the semester is coming to a close, and I've got a lot of big projects and essays that need to be finished, including other homework, exams, and work. I've basically been going non-stop and I just…couldn't write last week for various reasons. Needless to say, I'm glad I got the finale to you.**

 **Bug out! ;)**

 **Thank you for reading,  
** **TheBrightestNight**


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